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UNIVERSITY 


_ DIVINITY SCHOOL 
LIBRARY 


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in 2022 with funding from 
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https://archive.org/details/famoushymnstheir01jone 


MISS FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL. 
Photo by Ells Fry. 


AMOUS HYMNS 
and their Authorss 
By Francis Arthur Jones + 


WITH PORTRAITS 
AND FACSIMILES 


¢ 


SECOND EDITION 


NEW YORK: EDWIN §S 
GORHAM 4rx AVENUE 
22nD STREET wm my» ®% 
LONDON: HODDER AND 
STOUGHTON 1903 re) 


To Ceil 
$n ever affectionate 
Remembrance 


Preface 


| the compilation of this volume (the work 
of some ten years) an immense number of 
authorities have necessarily been consulted. 
Among these should be specially mentioned the 
works of Dr. John Mason Neale, Canon Ellerton, 
the Rev. L. C. Biggs, the Rev. John Brownlie, 
the Rev. John Chandler, Dr. Phillip Schaff, Mr. 
G. T. Stevenson, and Dr. John Julian. 

The “ Lives ” of many of our foremost hymnists 
have also been consulted, notably Bishop Ken, 
Bishop How, Bishop Heber, Bishop Christopher 
Wordsworth, Dean Alford, Dean Milman, Father 
Faber, T. T. Lynch, and others. 

To the following who have rendered me in- 
valuable assistance as regards special information, 
portraits, photographs, or manuscripts, I gladly 
acknowledge my indebtedness :—His Grace the 
Archbishop of York, the Right Rev. Bishop E. H. 
Bickersteth, Prebendary Thring, Dr. John Julian, 
the Rev. F. M. Bird (for much interesting in- 
formation regarding American hymn writers), the 
Rev. H. N. Bonar, the Rev. W. St. Hill Bourne, 
the Rev. John Brownlie, the Rev. R. H. Bullock, 


F.H. y b 


vi PREFACE 


the Rev. H. E. T. Crusoe, the Rev. Frank Ellerton, 
the Rev. P. E. L. Holland, the Rev. Charles H. 
Kelly, Sir Herbert Oakeley, and the Rev. W.H. 
Whiting; Miss J. Baker, Miss S. Gurney, Miss K. 
Hankey, Mrs. G. S. Hodges, Mrs. J. Luke, Mrs. 
M.F. Maude, Mrs. E. H. Miller, Mrs. F. A. Shaw, 
Mrs. E. M. Synge, and Miss G. Wordsworth; 
W. Beck, Esq., J. Potter Briscoe, Esq., H. C. 
Camp, Esq. (New York), C. E. Conder, Esq., 
H. Daniell, Esq., C. W. Lock, Esq., Arthur 
Milman, Esq., G. E. Newman, Esq., T. Viccars, 
Esq., and S. Young, Esq. 

From the following hymnists who have passed 
away while this book was in the making I also 
received much valued assistance:—The Right 
Rev. Bishop W. Walsham How, the Rev Canon 
Bright, the Rev. Canon Twells, the Rev. A. G. 
W. Blunt, the Rev. S. J. Stone, the Rev. Laurence 
Tuttiett, W. Chatterton Dix, Esq., and Mrs. C. 
F. Alexander. 

For permission to use the many copyright 
photographs included in this volume my thanks 
are due to those whose names appear below the 
portraits. 

FE. Ava 

Lonpon, Nov., 1902. 


Contents 


PAGE 


EPRUSOAC ed Hlvfens Wal Pau) rebar stu Miia UE Wee ten) tis: lee maby Ve 
I 

MorRNING AND EvENING HyMNS .... . I 
II 

PSOE ND ELVIN tel cahivatienWi elf) rebar) eth) Yet wie. ch 
Tit 

(SPRISTNIASE ELMMING S03) istic tas ee le yokes! ler Siw 56 
IV 


HyMNS SUITABLE FOR THE NEW YEAR... 77 


Vv 


EUV MINS JON) DHE PASSION: 'c) (Mel) rail bes he belive (OF 


vu 


Vili CONTENTS 


PAGE 


EasTeR HyMNS . . . 1 «5s 6) nn 


PROCESSIONAL HIYMNS. .. |). 2 «| Sue 


VIII 
CoMMUNION HyMNsS Perm 
IX 
Hymns ror Hoty Matrimony, MIssIoNs, AND 
“THOSE AT SEA”). . 2) 6) .) ner 
XxX 
FUNERAL AND Harvest Hymns, ALL SArnts’ 
DAY Sale SOY Sa Oe Oe rr 
XI 
HYMNS FOR CHILDREN . .4s 0. «| <) eee 
XII 


Some GENERAL HyMNS «J. 2!) 2) (se) Se 


Illustrations 


ENCED Elie are hit RU onal ay api feign, BROMUaH LUA Kah ayn EN ODDHES ECE 


Miss FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL. 


Pate Mime MPA eh Malt Moll sini even LO KAGE) APE 10.6 


1. THE Rev. F. W. Faser, D.D. 

2. THE RtcHt Rev. BrsHop THomas Ken, D.D. 
Mr. JoHn Byrom, M.A. 

. KeERSAL CELL. 

. THE Rev. G. R. PRyNNeE, M.A. 


wm #& vw 


Piel eu iansl iis i Mali hee tr MRIO) Abe pageys (A's 


BrERRYHEAD HOUSE. 
THE HOUSE IN WHICH HARRIET AUBER WROTE 
‘“OUR BLEST REDEEMER, ERE HE BREATHED.”’ 


PACH UNAM sen UNid poss peaineen MONKaCe) paren NvaT 


1. THE Rev. T. J. Potter. 
2. Mrs. M. F. Maube. 
3. THE Very Rev. Henry Harr Mirman, D.D. 


BAER D tel ned Dileh PUM EL aN hte ti Wt yD) OA CE NE IGEN TOK 


Mrs. CEciIL FRANCES ALEXANDER. 
THE Rev. Horatius Bonar, D.D. 


ix 


x ILLUSTRATIONS 


Plate VI. ... . . . . . Do 


1. Miss CATHERINE WINKWORTH. 

2. Mr. James MontTGOMERY. 

3. Mrs. Emity Huntincton MILLER. 
4. Mr. B. S. INGEMANN. 

5. Mr. Henry KIRKE WHITE. 

6. THE Rev. ARcHER T. GURNEY. 


Plate VIET... . . ... « «| DOufaee eee 
1. THE Rev. J. J. DANIELL. 
2. THE Rev. T. T. Lyncu. 
3. THE Rev. G. S. Hopces, B.A. 
4. THE Rev. S. J. Stone, M.A. 
5. THE Rev. THomas Binney, D.D. 
6. THE REv. CANON ELLERTON, M.A. 


Plate VIII > a ae be 6 «DOR fape mae 


THE Rev. CANon Bricut, D.D. 
Mr. ALBERT MIDLANE. 


Plate IX. 0. 4 4 « «©. 4 0 Do facempaaaieee 


THE Rev. JOHN WESLEY, M.A. 
Mr. WILLIAM COWPER. 


Plate Ko.) . 2 oe 8 ws DO ages 


THE Rev. Isaac Watts, D.D. 
Tue Ricut Rev. Bishop REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 


Plate XD) 6 iS 5) eo ace eee 
THE Ricut Rev. BisHop CHRISTOPHER WORDS- 
worth, D.D. 
Mr. CHARLES WESLEY, M.A. 


ILLUSTRATIONS xi 
IAC enh A> oi, Mauer a oes ve O11 face page: 260 


1. THE Rev. Canon TweEtts, M.A. 
2. Mrs. J. LUKE. 


Plate XIII hee em heey clans pd 0 JACe {pape 275 


THE Ricut Rev. BisHop W. W. How, D.D. 
THE Rev. JoHN KEBLE, M.A. 


Plate XIV Miele Lachine opus meh On aces pager 206 


1. Mr. RicHARD BAXTER. 

2. Str JoHN Bowrine, LL.D. 

3. Mr. WILLIAM WILLIAMS, 

4. THE RicHT Rev. BisHop RicHARD Mant, D.D. 
5. THE Rev. GEORGE MatueEson, D.D. 


RIAIEG EON) Soc wel fo ei Lucero ey nO) ace), Page ZT 
FACSIMILE OF “I HEARD THE VOICE OF JESUS 

say.” 
HetatemeWiliveners) | luli ey) tile ds) Wen LO face. Duce: sir7 


. THE Rev. W. Buttock, D.D. 

. THE Rev. W. St. Hitt Bourne. 

. Mr. WILLIAM WHITING. 

. Mr. W. CHatTERTON Drx. 

. THE Rev. HENRY Francis Lyte, M.A. 
. THE Rev. HENRY ALForD, D.D. 


Am Bw bd w 


I 


Morning and Lrening hymns 


ROM the days of St. Ambrose to the present 
time hymnists have found in the beginning 
and close of the day a favourite subject for religious 
verse. As a result those hymns specially written 
for morning and evening service not only form an 
mportant section of our hymnals, but also con- 
stitute some of the finest compositions of the 
kind in the language. 

To Bishop Ken we are indebted for two hymns 
which, for a hundred and sixty years, have found a 
place in every English hymnal. “ Awake, my soul, 
and with the sun” is not, perhaps, as often sung 
to-day at morning service as it was, say fifty years 
ago, but the Doxology, which concludes this 
hymn, as well as the same author’s “ All praise to 
Thee, my God, this night,” is probably more fre- 
quently sung than any other single verse in our 
hymnals. 

F.H. 1 


2 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


Bishop Ken wrote these two hymns, together - 
with one for midnight, for the scholars of Win- 
chester College, and it is said that before being 
published several copies were written in printed 
letters on large sheets and hung on the walls of 
the dormitories, where the boys could see them the 
first thing in the morning and the last thing at 
night. When they came to be published, in 1674, 
the author appended to them the following note: 


“Be sure to sing the morning and evening hymn in your 
chamber devoutly, remembering that the Psalmist, upon 
happy experience, assures you that it is a good thing to tell 
of the loving kindness of the Lord early in the morning and 
of His truth in the night season.” 

The hymn for midnight, which consists of 
thirteen verses, is not very frequently sung, 
possibly owing to the rather inconvenient hour 
for which it was intended. However, in various 
forms it is to be met with in many hymnals. 
Six verses, together with the Doxology, form a 
complete hymn by themselves, and may, without 
any very great outrage on the intentions of the 
author, be sung as an evening hymn. 

Thomas Ken was born at Berkhampstead in 
1637, and was brought up under the guardianship 
of his brother-in-law, Isaak Walton. He was 
educated at Winchester, became a Fellow of New 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 3 


College, Oxford, in 1657, Rector of Little Easton 
in 1663, and Rector of Woodhay and Prebendary 
of Winchester in 1669. It was during his last- 
mentioned preferment that he wrote his famous 
hymns. He is said to have had a beautiful voice, 
and was often heard in his chamber singing his 
morning and evening hymns to tunes which he 
had himself composed, accompanying himself on 
the viol or spinet. 

In 1679 he became Chaplain to the Princess 
Mary, at The Hague, but was summarily dismissed 
from this post through expressing rather too 
openly his disapproval at certain Court proceed- 
ings. The following year he returned to Win- 
chester and narrowly escaped a quarrel with 
Charles II by refusing, on the occasion of a visit 
from the King, to receive Nell Gwynne into his 
house. Instead of losing his temper, however, that 
extraordinary monarch, on being told of Ken’s in- 
hospitality, laughed good humouredly and shortly 
afterwards made him Bishop of Bath and Wells. 
When William III ascended the throne, Bishop 
Ken, for reasons which have never been very satis- 
factorily explained, refused to take the oaths, and 
was, in consequence, dismissed from office. A few 
years later, however, he was again offered the 
Bishopric of Bath and Wells, which he declined, 


4 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


preferring to end his days in retirement at Long- 
leat, where he died in 1710. 

From Keble’s Christian Year we get two morn- 
ing hymns which are to be found in all modern 
hymnals. “New every morning is the love,” and 
“O timely happy, timely wise,” are both taken 
from the same poem beginning “ Hues of the rich 
unfolding morn.” This poem, which was written 
in 1822, and published five years later, consists of 
sixteen verses, and from it several centos have 
been taken by various hymnal editors. 

“Sun of my soul, Thou Saviour dear,” acknow- 
ledged by many hymnologists to be the most 
frequently sung of all our evening hymns, was 
written by Keble in 1820, and also first published 
in the Christian Year. The original MS. of this 
work is preserved at Keble College, Oxford, and 
it is to the Warden of that College I am indebted 
for permission to give a facsimile reproduction of 
the first verse of this famous hymn :— 


* SE SAVIOUR Lear; 


Tie. f Tn, de ae 


4 A, mip wo Form. Clonal or tte 


As my readers are probably well aware, “Sun 
of my soul,” as it appears in the majority 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 5 


of our hymnals, consists of verses taken from 
the poem beginning “’Tis gone, that bright and 
orbéd blaze.” In the College Library may be 
seen two MSS. of “Sun of my soul,” but the one 
I have chosen for reproduction here bears an 
earlier date than the other, and contains Keble’s 
alterations. Though the Christzan Year has not 
now so great a sale as formerly, it is still widely 
read, while at one time it had a larger circulation 
than that of any other work of a similar character. 
From the profits arising out of the sale of this 
book Keble built Hursley Church. 

John Keble was born at Fairford, in Gloucester- 
shire, in 1792, being the son of the Vicar of Colne. 
After a brilliant career at Oxford he took Holy 
Orders, his first curacy being that of East Leach 
and Burthorpe. The Christian Year appeared in 
1827 and was an instant success, edition after 
edition being called for. Hymnal editors of all 
denominations begged for permission to make 
selections for their own particular collections, 
requests which were readily and_ cheerfully 
granted. Keble was a remarkably modest man, 
and probably thought less of his own work than 
did the least of his admirers. He once accom- 
panied the vicar of a parish in the South of 
England on his visit to the Sunday School. The 


6 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


superintendent requested him to address a few 
words to the children, who were already acquainted 
with his hymns, so that they might the more easily 
remember them. He timidly shrank from com- 
plying, but the superintendent persisting, he then 
said: “ May they sing something?” When they 
ceased, his face was beaming upon them as he 
said: “My dear children, you sang most beauti- 
fully in tune; may your whole lives be equally 
in tune, and then you will sing with the angels 
in heaven.” 

In 1829 Mr. Keble was offered the living of 
Hursley by Sir William Heathcote, which he 
declined for family reasons. Two years later he 
was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford, and in 
1833 laid the foundation of the Oxford Move- 
ment by delivering his now famous Assize 
Sermon. Two years afterwards he was again 
offered the living of Hursley, and accepted it. 
Here he lived for thirty years, greatly beloved 
by his parishioners. He died in 1866, on March 
29th, his wife following him some six weeks later. 

The number of tunes to which “Sun of my 
soul” has been set are many. Perhaps the most 
popular, certainly the most beautiful, is “Abends ” 
by Sir Herbert Oakeley. The melody was so 
exactly suited to the words that it found im- 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 7 


mediate favour with the editors of every kind 
of hymnal, and to-day it would be difficult to 
find the collection which does not contain it. 

Sir Herbert Oakeley is a rapid worker, and the 
tune to “Sun of my soul” was written in less 
than half an hour. In a letter which I received 
from the composer some time ago Sir Herbert 
says: 

“There is not much to record ve ‘ Abends.’ I 
was, many years ago, impelled to set Keble’s 
words to music for Sir Henry Baker, in con- 
sequence of the inadequacy if not vulgarity of 
the tune which had got into general use. I refer 
to ‘Hursley, which, however, is now less often 
sung than formerly. 

“* Hursley, strange to say, had been in use in 
Germany—where, as a rule, chorales (Anglicé 
hymn tunes) are so dignified and admirable— 
since circiter 1792, and is attributed to Paul 
Ritter. 

“One of my reasons for disliking it is the 
resemblance it bears to a drinking song, ‘Se vuol 
ballare,’ in Nozze di Figaro. As Mozart produced 
that opera in 1786, he is responsible for the open- 
ing strain, which suits his Bacchanalian words 
very well. But to hear ‘Sun of my soul, Thou 
Saviour dear, sung to a lively tune, unsuitable 


8 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


to sacred words, often had the effect of driving 
me out of church.” 

No one can seriously think for a moment that 
the fact of a congregation joining in a hymn 
redeems a tune, musically, or at least ecclesias- 
tically, bad. The public, however, will join in any 
easy melody if the words are good, and if the 
origin of the music isunknown. “The practice,” 
continues Sir Herbert, “adopted by some hymnal 
editors, of associating tunes with hymns other than 
those for which they were written, is to be much 
regretted.” This opinion was shared by the late 
Dr. Dykes, who on several occasions refused the 
use of a hymn tune on learning that it was to be 
sung to words other than those for which he had 
written it. 

“Christ, whose glory fills the skies ” was written 
by Charles Wesley, and first published in 1740. 
James Montgomery, who was more keenly alive 
to the true value of a hymn than many editors, 
averred that it was one of the finest of all Charles 
Wesley’s compositions. 

It has not, however, escaped alteration at the 
hands of editors, to whom, let us hope, John Wesley’s 
appeal in the preface to his hymnal was unknown, 
“T beg leave,” runs this characteristic paragraph, 
“to mention a thought which has been long upon 


I THE REV. F. W. FABER, D.D. 


From a Photo. 


2 THE RIGHT REV. BISHOP THOMAS KEN, D.D. 
From an Engraving. 
3 MR. JOHN BYROM, M.A. 
From a Sketch made from life. 


4 KERSAL CELL. 5 THE REV. G. R. PRYNNE, M A. 
Photo by Mitchell, Cheetham. y Photo by Steer, Plymouth 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 9 


my mind, and which I should long ago have inserted 
in the public papers, had I not been unwilling to 
stir up a nest of hornets. Many gentlemen have 
done my brother and me (though without naming 
us) the honour to reprint many of our hymns. 
Now they are perfectly welcome so to do, provided 
they print them just as they are. But I desire 
they would not attempt to mend them, for they 
really are not able. None of them is able to 
mend either the sense or the verse. Therefore 
I must beg of them one of these two favours: 
either to let them stand just as they are, to take 
them for better or worse, or to add the true read- 
ing in the margin, or at the bottom of the page, 
that we may no longer be accountable either for 
the nonsense or for the doggerel of other men.” 

“Sweet Saviour, bless us ere we go,” one of 
the tenderest dismissal hymns for evening service 
that we possess, was written in 1849 by Frederick 
William Faber. Like the majority of Dr. Faber’s 
hymns, it was composed expressly for use in the 
Brompton Oratory. 

In several collections this hymn begins “O 
Saviour, bless us ere we go,” and the last verse, 
appealing as it does more particularly to Roman 
Catholics, is generally omitted. It is one of the 
most frequently sung of all Dr. Faber’s hymns 


10 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


and there are few collections of modern date in 
which it does not find a place. 

Dr. Faber was the son of a Church of England 
clergyman and was born at Calverley Vicarage, 
Yorkshire, in 1814. After graduating at Balliol 
College, Oxford, he was ordained and became 
Rector of Elton in 1843. Three years later he 
left the Church of England and established the 
Brotherhood of St. Philip Neri, in King William 
Street, Strand, which was afterwards removed to 
the Brompton Oratory. 

Dr. Faber was the author of several prose works 
as well as three volumes of hymns. It is in his 
Jesus and Mary, that many of his best hymns 
were first published. This collection, which is 
still in use at the Oratory, contains in the pre- 
face an account of the circumstances under 
which Dr. Faber wrote his hymns :— 

“Tt was natural,” he says, “that an English son 
of St. Philip should feel the want of a collection of 
English Catholic hymns fitted for singing. The 
few in the Garden of the Soul were all that 
were at hand, and, of course, they were not 
numerous enough to furnish the requisite variety. 
As to translations they do not express Saxon 
thoughts and feelings, and consequently the poor 
do not seem to take to them. The domestic 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS sir 


wants of the Oratory, too, kept alive the feeling 
that something of the sort was needed: though at 
the same time the Author’s ignorance of music 
appeared in some measure to disqualify him for 
the work of supplying the defect. Eleven, how- 
ever, of the hymns were written, most of them, for 
particular tunes and on particular occasions, and 
became very popular with a country congregation. 
They were afterwards printed for the schools at 
St. Wilfrid’s, and the very numerous applications 
to the printer for them seemed to show that, in 
spite of very glaring literary defects, such as care- 
less grammar and slipshod metre, people were 
anxious to have Catholic hymns of any sort. The 
MS. of the present volume was submitted to a 
musical friend, who replied that certain verses of 
all or nearly all the hymns would do for sing- 
ing; and this encouragement has led to the 
publication of the volume.” 

Numerous are the instances of hymn-writers 
who are remembered by single compositions only. 
Henry Francis Lyte is a case in point, for though 
he wrote many hymns, it is with “ Abide with me” 
that his name will always be associated. This 
hymn, which was written at the little fishing port 
of Brixham, on the shores of Torbay, was the 
author’s last composition, and it has probably 


12 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


brought as much, if not more, comfort and hope 
to stricken humanity as all the sermons ever 
uttered or written. 

Brixham is celebrated in history as the landing 
place of William III. in 1688, “to uphold the 
religion and liberties of England.” The stone on 
which His Majesty first set foot is still preserved in 
an obelisk at the head of the quaint little pier. 
Shortly after his accession, William IV paid a 
visit to Brixham and was met at the landing-stage 
by Mr. Lyte and a surpliced choir ; and the stone, 
on which his namesake had trodden so many 
years before, was carried down the steps in order 
that the King might also place his foot thereon. 
Berry Head House, about half-a-mile distant from 
the town, was a gift to Mr. Lyte from William 
IV. It isa solidly-built mansion, and was origin- 
ally, when Berry Head was garrisoned, the military 
hospital. The ruggedness of its exterior is now 
toned down by yellow roses, clematis, and Virginia 
creeper. The scene from the verandah is mag- 
nificent, for the sea laps the very foot of the 
terraced gardens. It was here that “ Abide with 
me” was written. 

Some six or seven years ago I happened to be 
staying in Brixham and was fortunate enough to 
meet an old member of Mr. Lyte’s choir, a worthy 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 13 


gentleman who was credited with knowing 
more about the celebrated hymnist than any 
other living man. As we sat on the old pier 
one morning in early June, and watched the 
trawlers setting sail for the fishing grounds, my 
companion chatted animatedly about the late 
hymnist, evidently well pleased to find some one 
who took an interest in a man of whom he 
was palpably never tired of talking. 

“T was a member of Mr. Lyte’s choir,” he said, 
“in 1846—I and a dozen others, all dead now. We 
were deeply attached to him. He had the gentlest 
expression and most winning manner possible, and 
yet I suppose we caused him more grief than all 
his trials of ill health. We left his choir and gave 
up teaching in his Sunday School, and though I 
should probably do the same thing to-morrow 
under similar circumstances, it gives me a feeling 
of intense sadness even now when I think of it. 

“This is how it came about. A short while before 
he left us to go to Nice, where it was hoped the 
climate would benefit his health, some influential 
members of the Plymouth Brethren visited Brix- 
ham and persuaded ten of us to jointhem. After 
due deliberation we went in a body to Mr. Lyte 
and told him that we intended to leave his church. 
He took it calmly enough, though we practically 


14 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


constituted his entire choir, and said that nothing 
would be farther from his thoughts than to stand 
between us and our consciences. He bade us 
think the matter over very seriously and come to 
him again in a few days. We did so, but our 
decision remained unaltered. We left him, and 
never entered his church again. When ‘ Abide 
with me’ came to be written, each of us was 
given a copy, and then we realized, perhaps 
more keenly than any one else, the true meaning 
of the words — 

‘When other e/fers fail, and comforts flee, 

Help of the helpless, O abide with me.’” 

The story of how this hymn came to be written 
is an oft-told tale, and yet this little volume would 
be far from complete were it omitted alto- 
gether. Briefly, the story is this. In 1847 Mr. 
Lyte had become so weak and ill by his devotion 
to his flock that the doctors ordered his removal 
to Nice, where it was hoped the more genial 
climate would restore some of his lost health. 
The evening of the Sunday prior to his depar- 
ture was a beautiful one, and after service he left 
his house and strolled, as was his custom, down 
the garden path to the seashore, alone. Here he 
walked up and down for perhaps half-an-hour, 
meditating sadly on the farewell words he had so 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 15 


lately addressed to his congregation, being fully 
convinced that he had spoken to them for the last 
time on earth. When the sun had set and the 
night had closed in Mr. Lyte returned to his 
house and retired to his study. An hour later 
(it was thought that he had been lying down) he 
presented his family with the hymn 


Gipaipes foe S arise 


accompanied by music which he had also com- 
posed. The next morning he left Brixham to 
return no more, for he died a few months later at 
Nice, where he now lies buried. 

Whether Mr. Lyte intended “ Abide with me” 
to be used solely as an evening hymn it is impos- 
sible to say, but Canon Ellerton in his collection 
places it among those for “General Use,” with the 
following note attached :— 


“Tt is sometimes (nearly always) classed among evening 
hymns, apparently on the ground of the first two lines, and 
their similarity in sound to two lines in Keble’s ‘ Sun of my 

_soul, This is a curious instance of the misapprehension of 
the true meaning of a hymn by those among whom it is 


16 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


popular, for a very little consideration will suffice to show 
that there is not throughout the hymn the slightest allusion 
to the close of the za¢ural day: the words of St. Luke 
xxiv. 29 are obviously used in a sense wholly metaphorical. 
It is far better adapted to be sung at funerals, as it was 
beside the grave of Professor Maurice ; but it is almost too 
intense and personal for ordinary congregational use.” 


After all it matters very little whether a hymn 
is sung at morning, at evening or at midday so 
long as it fulfils its purpose. “ Abide with me” 
was written in the evening, and when published 
was accepted as an evening hymn, and will always 
be looked upon as an evening hymn by those who 
sing it. The close of the natural day is the 
evening of life to thousands, and so the connexion 
between the two is not so slight as Canon Ellerton 
would seem to suppose. It was written, we may 
be very sure, for a purpose, and that purpose was 
to bring comfort to the living. It is therefore 
hardly possible that the author intended it to be 
used as a funeral hymn only. In no hymnal save 
Canon Ellerton’s does “ Abide with me” appear 
in any but its proper place, namely, among those 
intended for evening service. 

The original music to “ Abide with me” is now 
seldom sung, having been supplanted by Dr. 
Monk’s beautiful composition, “ Eventide.” Dr. 
Monk’s manner of setting Mr. Lyte’s hymn will 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS | 17 


serve as an example of the rapidity with which he 
could compose. Starting out one morning with 
the late Sir Henry Baker, his co-worker in the 
editing of Hymns Ancient and Modern, he sud- 
denly recollected that there was no tune to No. 27, 
“ Abide with me.” He returned to the house, and, 
undisturbed by a music lesson that was going on, 
the doctor sat down and wrote the beautiful and 
appropriate melody in ten minutes. 

An evening hymn which ranks with “ Abide with 
me” and “Sun of my soul” in point of excellence 
and appropriateness is Canon Ellerton’s :— 


It was written in 1886 for the Festival of the 
Malpas, Middlewich and Nantwich Choral Asso- 
ciation of that year. Canon Ellerton had a fond- 
ness for writing hymns to tunes which took his 
fancy, and many of his best-known hymns owe 
their origin to melodies which captured his affec- 
tions. In the case of “Saviour, again to Thy 
dear name” he had been much struck by a tune 
entitled “St. Agnes,” in Thorne’s collection, and 


F.H. 2 


18 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


when he was asked to writea hymn for the 
Malpas Festival it occurred to him that he would 
much like to write some words to that air. 
He therefore took a piece of sermon note, on one 
side of which, by the way, was a portion of the 
discourse he had preached the previous Sunday, 
and drafted out the first rough plan of the hymn. 
The MS., a portion of which we show here, is a 
most interesting one owing to the number of 
corrections made by the author. In comparing 
the hymn as first written by Canon Ellerton with 
the “fair” copy which he afterwards made, some 
difference is apparent. The opening verses origin- 
ally read :— 


Father, once more before we part, we raise 

With one accord our parting hymn of praise : 

Once more we bless Thee, ere our songs shall cease, 
Then, lowly kneeling, pray Thee for Thy peace. 


Grant us Thy peace, Lord, through the coming night, 
Turn Thou for us its darkness into light: 

From harm and danger, fear and shame kept free, 
For dark and light are both alike to Thee. 


Canon Ellerton originally wrote this hymn in 
six stanzas of four lines each. In most hymnals, 
however, the number of verses has been reduced to 
five and in a few to four. One verse in the MS., 
the fourth, has been omitted altogether, and, as it 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 19 


is one of the most beautiful in the whole hymn, I 
cannot refrain from quoting it :— 


Grant us Thy peace—the peace Thou didst bestow 
On Thine Apostles in Thine hour of woe ; 

The peace Thou broughtest, when at eventide 
They saw Thy piercéd hands, Thy wounded side. 


For some years this hymn was sung to the 
tune to which it was originally written, but a 
short time before the publication of the first 
revised edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern the 
hymn was sent to Dr. Dykes, at Durham, with a 
request that he would set it to music. He did so 
and, as was his custom, took the manuscript down 
with him to St. Oswald’s. After evening service 
he played it over to his children in order to obtain 
from them their opinion as to whether it was a 
good tune or not. The juvenile critics were 
unanimous in their approval, and the hymn was 
despatched to Sir Henry Baker. As may be 
well believed, Sir Henry was very much “taken” 
with the setting, and always referred-to it as one 
of the most beautiful of Dr. Dykes’ compositions. 
Shortly before her death Mrs. Ellerton, widow of 
the hymnist, remarked to me that her husband 
was also very much delighted with the tune and 
wrote Dr. Dykes a special letter of thanks 


zo MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


“Saviour, again to Thy dear name” has been 
translated into many languages and dialects, and 
is said to be in more extensive use than any other 
of Canon Ellerton’s compositions. 

“Saviour, breathe an evening blessing,” by 
James Edmeston, made its first appearance in the 
author’s Sacred Lyrics, published in 1820. For 
many years it remained in obscurity, unnoticed by 
hymnal compilers, until Dr. Bickersteth republished 
it in a little volume called Christian Psalmody. 
From thence it made its way into several collec- 
tions, and soon began to take its place as one 
of the foremost hymns for evening service in 
the language. As originally written it consisted 
of two verses only, of eight lines each, but in 
most hymnals it is now given in four four-line 
stanzas. 

“ Saviour, breathe an evening blessing,” may be 
said to owe its origin to Edmeston’s love for books 
of travel. In 1819, happening to be reading 
Salte’s Travels in Abyssinia, he came to the fol- 
lowing passage: “At night, their short evening 
hymn, ‘ Jesus, forgive us,’ stole through the camp.” 
Laying aside his book, he took a sheet of paper 
and spontaneously penned those two simple verses 
which have since become so well known. 

This hymn has undergone a good deal of 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS © 21 


pruning and alteration at the hands of various 
editors, in some cases, perhaps, to its advantage. 
The following verse, dealing with sudden death, 
is in several hymnals omitted, probably for the 
reason that it is a somewhat unhappy conclusion 
to an otherwise beautiful hymn— 


Should swift death this night o’ertake us, 
And our couch become our tomb ; 

May the morn in heaven awake us, 
Clad in light and deathless bloom. 


Prebendary Thring has rewritten this verse 
and cleverly overcome the rather unpleasant sug- 
gestion that our bed may also “become our 


tomb ”— 


Be Thou nigh, should death o’ertake us, 
Jesus, then our Refuge be; 

And in Paradise awake us, 
There to rest in peace with Thee. 


James Edmeston, born in 1791, was by profes- 
sion an architect and surveyor. He was a man 
of a peculiarly lovable disposition,and passionately 
fond of children, for whom he wrote many of his 
hymns. His collection, entitled /nfant Breathings, 
contain compositions of a very tender and simple 
nature, admirably suited for the little pilgrims for 
whom he wrote. He took a great interest in all 


22 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


church work, and was for many years church- 
warden of St. Barnabas’, Homerton. His hymns 
were written at odd moments, and generally in 
the evening when he had laid aside his profes- 
sional duties. He was a constant visitor to the 
London Orphan Asylum, and for the children 
there he wrote what is perhaps his second best- 
known composition—*“ Lead us, Heavenly Father, 
lead us.” Though Mr. Edmeston has written 
between 1,500 and 2,000 hymns, only the two 
mentioned here can be said to have come into 
common use. 

“The day is past and over” is one of Dr. John 
Mason Neale’s many translations from the Greek. 
Dr. Neale attributes the authorship of this hymn 
to St. Anatolius, but there appears to be some 
doubt on the point according to many hymno- 
logists. In the preface to his Hymns of the 
Eastern Church, where “The day is past and 
over” was first published, Dr. Neale says :— 

“ This little hymn, which, I believe, is not used 
in the public service of the Church, is a great 
favourite in the Greek Isles. Its peculiar style and 
evident antiquity may well lead to the belief that 
it is the work of St. Anatolius. It is, to the 
scattered hamlets of Chios and Mitylene, what. 
Bishop Ken’s evening hymn is to the village of 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS ~ 23 


our land, and its melody is singularly plaintive 
and soothing.” 
The original manuscript of Cardinal Newman’s 


hymn :— 


head henthy Lgl, tmid the tnervelary 
Dean aa asl oi ot 

Th might dork sed Jam foo from horn. 
Jat Flow me om! 


owing to the circumstances under which it was 
composed, is probably not now in existence. The 
facsimile shown here is from a copy made by the 
late Cardinal on March 9, 1875, and sent with his 
prayers and best wishes to a friend. There are 
several such MSS. to be found among the auto- 
graph collections of private individuals, for the 
Cardinal, in reply to the very numerous requests 
for his autograph, thought so little of that which 
seemed to please his correspondents as to forward, 
instead of a simple signature, a verse of his cele- 
brated hymn. | 

“Lead, kindly Light” was written during the 
summer months of 1833, at a time of much mental 
distress, and the words are a very echo of the 
author’s own loneliness. In his Apologia pro Vita 


24 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


Sua Cardinal Newman tells the story of how the 
hymn came to be written. While travelling on 
the Continent he was attacked by a sudden ill- 
ness which necessitated a stay at Castle Giovanni. 
Here he lay weak and restless for nearly three 
weeks, the only friend at hand being his servant, 
who nursed him during his illness. This occurred 
early in May, and on the 27th of that month he 
was sufficiently recovered to attempt a journey to 
Palermo. 

“Before starting from my inn,” he wrote, “I sat 
down on my bed and began to sob bitterly. My 
servant, who had acted as my nurse, asked what 
ailéd me. I could only answer, ‘I have a work to 
do in England. I was aching to get home, yet 
for want of a vessel I was kept at Palermo for 
three weeks. I began to visit the churches, and 
they calmed my impatience, though I did not 
attend any services. At last I got off in an 
orange boat, bound for Marseilles. We were be- 
calmed for a whole week in the Straits of Boni- 
facio, and it was there that I wrote the lines,‘ Lead, 
kindly Light, which have since become so well 
known.” 

A great deal of controversy has taken place 
from time to time regarding the author’s meaning 
in the lines— 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS ~ 25 


And with the morn those Angel faces smile, 
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile. 


Whole chapters have been written on the subject 
by people who endeavoured to elucidate the 
mystery. It is not improbable that these essays 
on the meaning of two lines caused the Cardinal, 
if he saw them, a good deal of amusement. The 
author himself, on being asked to solve the pro- 
blem in 1879, replied that he was not bound to 
remember his own meaning, whatever it was, at 
the end of almost fifty years. 

“Lead, kindly Light” was written specially as an 
evening hymn. It has been translated into more 
foreign languages‘ than any other of Cardinal 
Newman’s compositions. In the Hymnal Com- 
panion Dr. Bickersteth has added the following 


verse— 


Meantime, along the narrow rugged path, 
Thyself hast trod, 

Lead, Saviour, lead me home in child-like faith, 
Home to my God, 

To rest for ever after earthly strife 

In the calm light of everlasting life. 


Cardinal Newman once paid a high compliment 
to the musical genius of the late Dr. J. B. Dykes, 
whose setting of his hymn added in no small 


26 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


degree to its beauty. He was being congratu- 
lated by a friend on having written so fine a 
hymn, when he silenced him with the remark, 
“Tt is not the hymn that has gained the popu- 
larity, but the tune. The tune is by Dykes, and 
Dr. Dykes was a great master.” 

The very beautiful evening hymn :— 


The sun is sinking fast, 
The daylight dies ; 

Let love awake, and pay 
Her evening sacrifice. 


is a translation by the Rev. Edward Caswall of 
the hymn from the Latin, “Sol praeceps rapitur 
proxima nox adest.” As in the case of several 
other hymns obtained from a similar source 
the author is unknown. The Rev. L. C. Biggs, 
the editor of an annotated edition of Hymns 
Ancient and Modern, did his best to discover 
the original writer, but in vain. He wrote to Mr. 
Caswall, who, in reply, informed him that he also 
had made every effort to discover the original 
of this hymn, but without success. “It was,” the 
translator believes, “in the possession of one of 
the former members of the Edgbaston Oratory, 
contained in a small book of devotions. It can 
scarcely be older than the eighteenth century.” 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS~ 27 


The translations from the Latin by Edward 
Caswall are equal in point of merit to those by 
Dr. Neale. Though he wrote many original 
hymns, one only can be said to have become 
really familiar to the hymn-singing public. On 
the other hand his translations are widely sung 
and appreciated both in this country and in 
America, 

Edward Caswall, son of the Rev. R. C. Caswall, 
was born at Yately in 1814. He was educated 
at Brasenose College, Oxford, and after gradua- 
ting with honours he became, in 1840, incumbent 
of Stratford-sub-Castle, near Salisbury. In 1847 
he resigned this living, and after seceding to the 
Church of Rome was received .into the Oratory 
at Edgbaston, where he remained until his death. 
Mr. Caswall was a very devotional man, warm- 
hearted, wonderfully good to the poor, and 
passionately fond of children. Nearly all his 
hymns and other poems were written at the 
Oratory, Edgbaston. Though a _ considerable 
number of Mr. Caswall’s original hymns are to 
be met with in Roman Catholic collections, few 
have found their way into Protestant hymn books. 

Another instance of a hymnist who is known 
and remembered by a single composition is Canon 
Twells. His :— 


28 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


Mo wir ve HE tie urd deh; 


To ich 0 birt, sound A * 


Ch a nip aa Leon Ulu? 


has gained for the author a foremost J in 
hymnody. “It was composed in 1868,” wrote 
Canon Twells in a letter addressed to me, some 
few years since, “at the request of my friend, Sir 
Henry Baker, at that time Chairman of the 
Committee of Hymns Ancient and Modern, who 
said they wanted a new evening hymn. They 
were just about to bring out the first Appendix, 
and it was in this Appendix that the hymn was 
first published. I have been asked to insert it 
in 127 hymnals, and many more have taken it 
without asking me. No other of my hymns has 
attained a similar popularity. 

“The hymn as I originally wrote it consisted 
of eight verses, but on the recommendation of 
Sir Henry Baker the fourth stanza— 


And some are pressed with worldly cares, . 
And some are tried with sinful doubt ; 

And some such grievous passions tear, 
That only Thou canst cast them out 


was omitted.” 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS) 29 


In a second letter dealing with the apparent 
contradiction between the text on which the 
hymn was founded—“ And at even when the sun 
did set, they brought unto Him all that were 
diseased, and them that were possessed with 
devils. And all the city was gathered together 
at the door”—and the opening line of the hymn 
—*“ At even ere the sun was set”—Canon Twells 
thus defends his reading of the Apostles’ account 
of the healing of the sick. 

“T should like to point out,” he writes, “that 
there is no contradiction whatever, seeming or 
otherwise, between the first line and the text at 
the head. ‘At even when the sun did set’ 
(St. Mark) is surely not the same as ‘At even 
when the sun had set.’ There is no pluperfect 
either in the Greek or the English. The plain 
common sense meaning is that the incident took 
place at sunset, ie, during sunset—not after it. 
If there were any doubt at all about the matter 
it would be settled by the corresponding passage 
in St. Luke, ‘When the sun was setting. The 
hymn merely states that they brought the sick 
before the sun was absolutely set—the simple 
fact, if we are to believe the scriptural narrative. 
There is no sort of discrepancy or shadow of 
discrepancy between :— 


30 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


“When the sun did set” (St. Mark). 
“When the sun was setting” (St. Luke). 
“Ere the sun was set” (Hymn). 


All are in perfect accord with the old painters, 
the glow of the setting sun resting upon the faces 
of the sick and infirm folk.” 

The strange idea that there is a contradiction 
was first started by Prebendary Thring. When 
compiling his Church of England Hymn Book Pre- 
bendary Thring wrote to Canon Twells asking for 
permission to insert “ At even,” at the same time 
pointing out to him that the opening line did not 
exactly coincide with the text on which the hymn 
was founded. Would the author kindly permit 
him to change the first line to “At even when 
the sun did set”? After some correspondence 
Canon Twells allowed him to make the alteration, 
though, as the author remarks in the letter quoted, 
he had never met with any one who agreed with 
Prebendary Thring as to the necessity. 

“Now that the daylight fills the skies” is John 
Mason Neale’s very beautiful translation of a 
hymn from the Latin, ascribed by many writers 
to St. Ambrose. It has never been conclusively 
proved, however, that the famous Milanese bishop 
was the author, and in the majority of hymnals 
the hymn is merely stated to be by an anonymous 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS © 31 


writer of the fifth century. Though there have 
been many translations of this morning hymn pub- 
lished—possibly thirty or more—that by Neale 
is by far the most popular and is to be found 
in nearly all hymnals published during the last 
fifty years. In most collections, however, it has 
been altered more or less by editors (in many 
cases to its disadvantage) and probably not one 
hymnal gives the text exactly as Neale wrote it. 
In Thring’s collection the second verse— 


May He restrain our tongues from strife, 
And shield from anger’s din our life ; 
And guard with watchful care our eyes 
From earth’s absorbing vanities, 


has been altered by the Editor to— 


Would guard our tongue in every word, 
Lest sounds of angry strife be heard ; 
From all ill sights would turn our eyes, 
And close our ears from vanities. 


“The day is gently sinking to a close,” one of 
the most beautiful of Christopher Wordsworth’s 
evening hymns, is taken from his Holy Year. 
It was written about 1862 and first printed in 
leaflet form together with a companion hymn for 
morning service, “Son of God, Eternal Word.” 

As my readers are probably aware, these two 


32 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


hymns, “Son of God, Eternal Word,” and “ The 
day is gently sinking to a close,” now form the 
opening hymns to the Holy Year. Both com- 
positions are well known in Great Britain and 
America, though neither has attained that popu- 
larity enjoyed by many of Bishop Wordsworth’s 
other hymns. 

It is somewhat unfortunate that apparently no 
hymn by this writer appears to have been pre- 
served in manuscript. In a letter received from 
his son, dated June 6, 1895, the writer says : 

“Tam sorry to say that I have no certain recol- 
lection, even at the time of their composition (which 
I do recollect), of seeing the manuscript of my 
father’s hymns. I was so far alive to such matters 
that I begged for a heap of ‘copy’ of his ‘Com- 
mentary’ and had it bound. I have some notion 
that the hymns were originally written on stray 
pieces of paper, very possibly half in pencil, with 
corrections, and then copied ‘fair’ by my mother 
or sisters for the press. My father was such a 
prolific writer that in house-movings there was 
nothing for it but large destruction of copy which 
had done its work.” 

In a further letter he says: 

“T regret to say that my sister, Mrs. Steed- 
man, tells me that my father destroyed the 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS _- 33 


MSS. when the hymns came back from the 
printers. My mother and I laid hands on some 
manuscript of another of his works, but that 
was rather later. I am afraid there can be no 
doubt that the originals of the Holy Year are 
no longer extant. As I have for many years, 
almost from childhood, been interested in the 
bibliographical side of my father’s works I should 
almost certainly have found them if they existed,” 

From another source I learned that Bishop 
Wordsworth wrote his hymns at all sorts of odd 
moments and in all sorts of places—in the train, 
riding, or during a walk. If at night he was 
unable to sleep he would often get up and 
compose a few verses. The hymns were written 
on the backs of envelopes, small scraps of sermon 
paper, and even on the margin of the book he 
happened to be reading. He was an extremely 
rapid writer, but spared no pains in correcting 
until the composition satisfied him. Between 
forty and fifty hymns have been taken from the 
Holy Year by various hymnal editors and are 
now said to be in common use in this country. 
Bishop Wordsworth died in 1885 at the age of 
seventy-eight. 

The hymnal compositions of the late Canon 
Bright have been growing in favour year by 

F.H. 3 


34 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


year. His beautiful hymn for the close of ser- 
vice, “ And now the wants are told that brought,” 
was written in 1865 and published the following 
year in the authors Hymns and other Poems. 
It soon attracted the attention of Sir Henry Baker, 
and when the Appendix to Hymns Ancient and 
Modern was under discussion he asked Canon 
Bright for permission to include it, a request which 
was readily granted. The hymn was originally 
written in six stanzas, Canon Bright subsequently 
adding the following Doxology :— 
All glory to the Father be, 
All glory to the Son, 
All glory, Holy Ghost, to Thee, 
While endless ages run. 

Canon Bright had strong opinions with regard 
to the question of “copyright” in hymns. His 
compositions were always at the service of any one 
who cared to ask him for them. He averred that 
if a man wrote a good hymn, a hymn which had 
that in it which could bring comfort and consola- 
tion, the author had no more right to withhold it 
from the public than a publisher has to “copy- 
right” the Psalms. 

Canon Bright was extraordinarily painstaking in 
regard to his hymnal compositions. Though he 
frequently wrote spontaneously, he would spend 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS = 35 


hours of thought and care in altering and im- 
proving a single line. Fortunately, his hymns 
have escaped alteration and are published in the 
majority of hymnals pretty much as he wrote 
them. 

Having called Canon Twells over the coals with 
regard to his “ At even ere the sun was set,” it was 
only right that Prebendary Thring should in his 
turn be brought to book in respect to one of his 
own compositions. The hymn in question is “The 
radiant morn hath pass’d away,” the second 
verse of which originally ran :— 


Our life is but a fading dawn, 

Its glorious noon how quickly past ; 

Lead us, O Christ, when all is gone, 
Safe home at last. 


A correspondent took the liberty of pointing 
out to the author the inconsistency of referring 
to the dawn as “ fading,” inasmuch as the dawn 
does not fade, but rather increases in brilliancy. 
Prebendary Thring, however, had already been 
struck with a similar idea, and he therefore altered 
the verse to the following :— 


Our life is but an autumn day, 

Its glorious noon how quickly past ; 

Lead us, O Christ, Thou Living Way, 
Safe home at last. 


36 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


Subsequently Prebendary Thring again altered 
this verse to :— 

Our life is but an autumn sun, 

Its glorious noon how quickly past ; 


Lead us, O Christ, our life-work done, 
Safe home at last. 


This last is the author’s revised version, and the 
one he would like to see copied by hymnal 
editors. 

“The radiant morn hath pass’d away” is 
generally supposed to have been written for use 
at evening services, but this is not the case. In 
a letter received from the author a couple of 
years ago, Prebendary Thring gives the follow- 
ing particulars regarding the hymn and the 
object for which he wrote it. 

“The hymn in question,” he writes, “was com- 
posed as an ‘afternoon’ hymn, as in most of the 
country parishes in that part of Somersetshire in 
which I lived, the second service was nearly always 
held in the afternoon, and not in the evening 
whilst all the hymns in the hymn books in com- 
mon use were for the late evening or night. I 
wrote ‘The radiant morn hath pass’d away’ to 
supply this want. Several of my hymns were 
written in consequence of some want of this 
kind, felt either by myself or others ; but most of 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS - 37 


them, I think, though I have never made any 
calculations, arose almost spontaneously from 
thoughts that happened to be running in my 
mind at the time.” 

Prebendary Thring is the author of several 
volumes of poems, the most important being his 
Hymns and Sacred Lyrics. This work met 
with disaster soon after its publication, the 
whole edition being burnt in a great fire at the 
publisher’s works. The author only discovered 
the fact of the fire some time afterwards, and 
then merely by accident—a stranger having 
written to him asking how he could get a copy, 
as he had been told by every bookseller to whom 
he had applied that it was “out of print!” 

Prebendary Thring has written a great many 
hymns, fifty-nine of which appear in his Church 
of England Hymn Book. They have nearly all 
been written with an “object,” and are, with very 
few exceptions, of great excellence. 

“O Jesu, Lord of Heavenly grace” is John 
Chandler’s translation of “Splendor paternae 
gloriae,’ by St. Ambrose. The exact date of its 
composition is uncertain, but the authorship is un- 
doubted. In olden days it is said to have been 
invariably sung at Matins every Monday. Of 
the many translations which have been published 


38 MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS 


John Chandler’s has long been the most popu- 
lar, being found in a large number of English 
and American hymnals. John Chandler was for 
many years Vicar of Witley, and devoted much 
of his time to the translation of Latin hymns. 
In the preface to his Hymns of the Primitive 
Church, where “O Jesu, Lord of Heavenly Grace” 
appears next to Bishop Ken’s “ Awake, my soul, 
and with the sun,’ Mr. Chandler thus accounts for 
the publication of his translations :— 

“ My attention was a short time ago directed to 
some translations which appeared from time to 
time in the British Magazine, very beautifully 
executed, of some hymns extracted from the 
Parisian Breviary with originals annexed. Some, 
indeed, of the Sapphic and Alcaic and other Hora- 
tian metres seem to be of little value ; but the rest, 
of the peculiar hymn-metre, Dimeter Iambics, ap- 
pear ancient, simple, striking and devotional—in a 
word, in every way likely to answer our purpose. 
So I got a copy of the Parisian Breviary and one 
or two other old books of Latin hymns, especially 
one compiled by Georgius Cassander, printed at 
Cologne in the year 1556, and regularly applied 
myself to the work of selection and translation. 
The result is the collection I now lay before the 
public. It will be observed that I have admitted 


MORNING AND EVENING HYMNS — 39 


no hymns but what appear to be expressly wanted 
for the purposes of our Church ; my aim in trans- 
lating them has been to be as simple as possible, 
thinking it better to be, of the two, rather bald 
and prosaic than fine and obscure.” 


II 


Hdvent bymns 


HOSE hymns written specially for the season 
of Advent are very numerous, and comprise 
some of the grandest examples of sacred verse in 
our hymnals. With very few exceptions, however, 
those which have taken firmest hold of the affec- 
tions of the Church are translations from the Latin. 
That greatest of all Advent hymns, the Dzes Jrae, 
is generally supposed to have been written by 
Thomas of Celano in the thirteenth century. The 
number of translations which have been published, 
though very difficult to estimate, cannot fall far 
short of 150, and of these some twenty have be- 
come more or less familiar. 

To Sir Walter Scott we owe what is, with one 
exception, probably the finest of all translations of 
the Dies Irae—“ That day of wrath, that dreadful 
day.” This hymn forms the concluding stanzas of 


the sixth canto of “ The Lay of the Last Minstrel,” 
40 


ADVENT HYMNS 41 


and is headed “A Hymn for the Dead.” The 
author leads up to these notable verses in the 
following lines :— 


Then mass was sung, and prayers were said, 
And solemn requiem for the dead ; 
And bells toll’d out their mighty peal 
For the departed spirit’s weal ; 
And ever in the office close 
The hymn of intercession rose ; 
And far the echoing aisles prolong 
The awful burthen of the song,— 
Dies irae, dies illa, 
Solvet saeclum in favilla ; 
While the pealing organ rung. 
Were it meet with sacred strain 
To close my lay, so light and vain, 
Thus the holy Fathers sung :— 


That day of wrath, that dreadful day, 
When heaven and earth shall pass away ! 
What power shall be the sinner’ stay? 
How shall he meet that dreadful day? 


When, shrivelling like a parchéd scroll, 

The flaming heavens together roll ; 

When louder yet, and yet more dread, 
Swells the high trump that wakes the dead! 


Oh! on that day, that wrathful day, 

When man to judgment wakes to clay, 

Be Thou the trembling sinner’s stay, 
Though heaven and earth shall pass away! 


Scott published his “ Lay” in 1805, and within 


42 ADVENT HYMNS 


a very short period this hymn was singled out by 
compilers and published in various collections. It 
soon became the most popular of all the transla- 
tions, and few hymnals published during the last 
half-century omit it. 

Scott himself was a fervent admirer of this great 
hymn in the original, and is said to have uttered a 
few lines of it a short while before his death. 

Another translation of the Dzes Irae which 
equals Scott’s in excellence and popularity is 
“Day of wrath, O day of mourning,” by W. J. 
Irons. It was written under somewhat remarkable 
circumstances. 

It appears that Mr. Irons was in the French 
capital during the Revolution of 1848 when, 
among other atrocities committed, the Archbishop 
of Paris was murdered. Owing to the revolu- 
tionary spirit of the people it was many days 
before the funeral could take place with any 
degree of safety to the mourners. About a 
fortnight later a Memorial Service was held in 
Notre Dame, at which Mr. Irons was present. 
The Archbishop’s heart, which had been severed 
from his body, was placed in a glass casket and 
reverently laid on a raised dais in the choir so 
that all who desired to do so might gaze upon it. 
As the procession of mourners filed by, casting 


BERRYHEAD HOUSE, 
The birthplace of ‘‘ Abide with me.” 
3 


hoto by Upham, Brixham. 


ADVENT HYMNS 43 


looks of mingled terror and affection on the faith- 
ful heart which had so recently beat in their 
interests, the entire congregation sang in muffled 
tones the Dies Irae. As may well be believed 
the solemnity of the service made a deep and 
lasting impression on the mind of the English 
clergyman present, and when the congregation 
had dispersed he returned to his hotel and imme- 
diately made his now celebrated translation of the 
great Latin hymn :— 
Day of Wrath! O day of mourning! 


See once more the Cross returning, 
Heav’n and earth in ashes burning !” 


Dr. William Josiah Irons was born at Hoddes- 
don—within a short distance of the house in which 
Harriet Auber wrote “Our Blest Redeemer, ere 
He breath’d”—in 1812, being the son of Joseph 
Irons, also a hymnist of some note. After taking 
his B.A. Degree at Queen’s College, Oxford, he 
took Holy Orders in 1835, and two years later 
became Incumbent of St. Peter’s, Walworth. After 
filling various livings he became Rector of St. 
Mary-Woolnoth and Prebendary of St. Paul’s 
Cathedral. He died on June 18, 1883. 

Dr. Irons wrote a great number of original 
hymns, but will be longest remembered by his 
translation of the Dzes Irae. 


44 ADVENT HYMNS 


“Hark the glad sound! the Saviour comes” 
is one of the few original Advent hymns qualified 
to be placed among those of the Mediaeval Church. 
It was written by Philip Doddridge in 1835, and 
first published ten years later in a Scotch hymnal. 
It was ten years more before it appeared in 
England, when it was published in a posthumous 
volume of hymns by Dr. Doddridge. Very few 
of Dr. Doddridge’s hymns were published prior to 
his death in 1751. They were first circulated in 
manuscript, in the author’s own clear handwriting, 
and, the number of copies being necessarily 
limited, were much prized by the fortunate 
possessors. 

Another hymn by Philip Doddridge, which 
might very well be regarded as an Advent hymn, 
is “Ye servants of the Lord,” written prior to 
“Hark the glad sound” and not published until 
after his death. It is written on the words of St. 
Luke :—“ Blessed are those servants, whom the 
Lord when He cometh shall find watching.” As 
a hymn of exhortation it could hardly be sur- 
passed. 

Perhaps the most unpopular hymn Doddridge 
ever wrote was one for early rising. The very 
object for which the good doctor wrote proved the 
death blow to the composition, for if there is one 


ADVENT HYMNS 45 


thing more than another to which members of the 
human race strongly object it is leaving their beds 
in the small hours. Dr. Doddridge was not unaware 
of this, and, in order that the hymn should not be 
entirely wasted, sang it himself. “ At five o’clock,” 
says a contemporary writer, “he prepared to leave 
his bed, repeating five stanzas before doing so; at 
the sixth he rose and dressed.” It is not related 
how long the doctor lingered over those first five 
stanzas ! 

All his life Dr. Doddridge was more or less of 
an invalid. At his birth he was laid aside as 
dead, and would have been buried had it not been 
for the intervention of an affectionate nurse, who 
refused to believe that the child had been born 
but to die. He lived for forty-nine years and died 
at Lisbon from consumption brought on by over- 
work. 

Few hymns have occasioned greater contro- 
versy as to their authorship than “ Great God, what 
do I see and hear?” It appears to have been, 
like “Lo! He comes with clouds descending,” the 
combined work of numerous hymnists and editors. 
It is closely associated with the great German 
hymnist, Bartholomaus Ringwaldt, and is said to 
be a translation of one of his hymns which was 
published about the year 1556, and frequently 


46 ADVENT HYMNS 


sung in his native country during the Thirty 
Years’ War. This, however, is discredited by 
most hymnologists, as is also the assumption that 
it was written by Martin Luther. 

No record exists as to the actual authorship of 
the first verse, which seems to have been published 
anonymously in 1802 in a small volume of hymns. 
It was there seen by Dr. Collyer, who included it 
in a hymnal he was compiling in 1812, adding 
three stanzas of his own composition. In 1820 it 
was republished by Thomas Cotterill, considerably 
altered, though, as in the case of Dr. Collyer, the 
first verse remained true to the original. From 
that time onward it has had very little rest, 
appearing in various forms. Few editors were 
found obliging enough to leave it alone, and in 
consequence scarcely two hymnals give it in 
exactly the same form. One of the last to alter 
it is Prebendary Thring in his Church of England 
Hymn Book, but he has been more merciful than 
many others. The tune to which this great 
Advent hymn is allied is called “Luther,” and 
appeared in Joseph Klug’s Gesangbuch in 1535. 

“Thou art coming, O my Saviour,” by Miss 
Frances Ridley Havergal, was written at Winter- 
dyne in 1873. In connexion with this composi- 
tion it is interesting to recall that it was the first 


ADVENT HYMNS | 47 


hymn the author wrote “after her King took her 
by the hand and led her into the goodly land.” 
In The Memorials of F. R. A, her sister says: 
“Some time afterwards, in answer to my question 
when we were talking quietly together, Frances 
said, ‘ Yes, it was on Advent Sunday, December 2, 
1873, I first saw clearly the blessedness of true 
consecration. I saw it as a flash, and when you 
See you can never uwzsee.” “Thou art coming, 
O my Saviour” may therefore be regarded as the 
author’s diploma work on being made a member 
of Christ’s elect. 

For this hymn Miss Havergal also wrote a 
special tune, “St. Paul,” but- when the hymn was 
included in Ancient and Modern Dr. Monk set 
the words to a fresh melody of his own com- 
position, which he named “Beverley.” After the 
publication of Dr. Monk’s setting the authoress 
discarded her own tune in its favour, always 
preferring to hear her hymn sung to “ Beverley.” 

Nearly all Miss Havergal’s hymns were first 
written on odd scraps of paper, and afterwards 
copied into exercise books. The copies, how- 
ever, hardly differed from the original MSS. so 
finished and spontaneous were her inspirations. I 
was privileged to see some of these manuscript 
books a short time ago, and it was interesting 


48 ADVENT HYMNS 


to note how each hymn had been arranged ac- 
cording to its title, and the whole collection 
provided with an exhaustive index. 

A very fine hymn for Advent service is “ Thy 
kingdom come, O God,” written by the Rev. 
Lewis Hensley in 1867. It is specially suitable 
for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, and, indeed, 
was written with the idea of its being sung on that 
day. Mr. Hensley is another example of a “ one- 
hymn man,” for though he has written other 
compositions of a similar kind, “Thy kingdom 
come” is the only one which has found favour 
with hymnal compilers. It has been singularly 
fortunate in escaping “editorial tinkering,” being 
generally given exactly as the author wrote it. 
One little alteration, however, may be noted, the 
third verse as given in Mr. Hensley’s manuscript— 

When comes the promised time 
That war shall be no more, 


Oppression, lust, and crime 
Shall flee Thy Face before? 


having been changed in most hymnals to— 


When comes the promised time 
That war shall be no more, 

And lust, oppression, crime 
Shall flee Thy Face before? 


The change is a small one, and, taken in con- 


ADVENT HYMNS 49 


junction with the verse being in the form of a 
question, perhaps an improvement. 

The hymn was based on the sentence taken 
from the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come,” 
which, it will be noted, also forms the opening 
words of the hymn. The very beautiful tune, 
“St. Cecilia,” which was written for this hymn 
by the Rev. L. G. Hayne, is an especially appro- 
priate one, and has materially helped to sustain 
the deservedly high reputation which the hymn 
enjoys. 

Mr. Lewis Hensley, who is one of our few living 
hymnists, is Vicar of Hitchin, in the county of 
Hertfordshire. 

“ Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding” is Edward 
Caswall’s translation of the Latin hymn “Vox 
clara ecce intonat,” ascribed by some writers to 
St. Ambrose. There is, however, considerable 
doubt with regard to the authorship, and most 
hymnals content themselves by ascribing it to 
an anonymous writer. 

This hymn has been a favourite one for transla- 
tion with a great number of hymnists besides Cas- 
wall, a very fine rendering being that by Cardinal 
Newman, beginning, “Hark! a joyful voice is 
thrilling.” Of the many translations, however, 
that by Caswall has long since been awarded the 

F.H. 4 


50 ADVENT HYMNS 


first place in public affection, and is to-day found 
in more hymnals than all the other translations 
put together. 

The somewhat plaintive melody to which it is 
usually sung, called “ Veni Emmanuel,” is from 
an ancient Plain-song, the origin of which is lost 
in antiquity. : 

“Lo! He comes with clouds descending” may 
be said to combine the efforts of two hymnists 
and one editor—Cennick, Charles Wesley and 
Madan. This celebrated Advent hymn made its 
first appearance in printed form in Cennick’s 
Collection of Sacred Hymaus, published in 1752, 
the opening verse reading— 


Lo! He cometh, countless trumpets 
Blow before His bloody sign! 
*Midst ten thousand saints and angels, 
See the Crucified shine. 
Allelujah ! 
Welcome, welcome, bleeding Lamb ! 


In 1758 Charles Wesley published a small 
pamphlet containing forty hymns. In this little 
book Cennick’s hymn was included, altered by 
Charles Wesley to the now familiar— 


Lo! He comes with clouds descending, 
Once for favourd sinners slain ; 
Thousand thousand Saints attending, 


ADVENT HYMNS 51 


Swell the triumph of His train: 
Hallelujah ! 
God appears on earth to reign. 

Two years later M. Madan again published it, 
giving portions by Cennick and portions by 
Wesley, with additions and alterations of his own. 
It is in this form that the hymn now appears in 
modern hymnals. 

John Cennick was the author of a large number 
of hymns, of which a fair percentage are sung 
to-day. He was born at Reading in 1718, and 
was educated with the intention of his following 
the profession of a surveyor. At the early age of 
twenty-one, however, he came under the influence 
of the Wesleys, who persuaded him to leave the 
Church of England and assist them in their work. 
In 1840 he became a teacher at Kingswood, on 
the recommendation of John Wesley, his pupils 
for the most part consisting of the children of 
colliers. Shortly after his appointment, however, 
he left the Wesleys and joined George Whitefield. 
For a few years he worked under this leader, but 
again becoming restless, left him to join the 
Moravians. Much of his time he spent in 
Germany, where his preaching attracted many 
followers. He died in 1755 at the early age of 
thirty-seven. 


52 ADVENT HYMNS 


Besides “Lo! He comes,” and several other 
very fine hymns, Cennick was the author of the 
Graces “ Be present at our table, Lord,” and “ We 
thank Thee, Lord, for this our food,” which one 
occasionally hears even in these degenerate days, 
when “ Grace” appears to be becoming more and 
more a custom of the past. 

The tune with which “Lo! He comes with 
clouds descending” is inseparably associated, 
known as “ Helmsley” or “Olivers,” appears to 
have had as many vicissitudes as the hymn itself. 
In Grove’s Dictionary of Music a writer says— 

“ The story runs that Thomas Olivers, the friend 
of John Wesley, was attracted by the tune which 
he heard whistled in the street, and that from it 
he formed the melody to which were adapted the 
words of Cennick and Wesley’s Advent hymn. 
The tune heard by Olivers is commonly said to 
have been a hornpipe danced by Miss Catley in 
the ‘Golden Pippin, a burlesque by Kate O’Hara, 
but this seems inconsistent with chronology. The 
hymn tune appeared first, as a melody only, in 
the second edition of Wesley’s Select Hymns 
with Tunes Annexed, 1765, under the name of 
‘Olivers. In 1769 an improved version, in three 
parts, was published by the Rev. Martin Madan 
in Hymns and Psalm Tunes. It is there called 


ADVENT HYMNS 53 


‘Helmsley, and under that name became widely 
popular. But at this time the ‘Golden Pippin’ was 
not even in existence. O’Keefe, who possessed 
the original manuscript, tells in his Recollections 
that it was dated 1771. The burlesque, in three 
acts, was produced at Covent Garden in 1773. It 
failed at first, but obtained some success when 
altered and abridged. The source from whence 
‘Olivers’ was derived seems to have been a 
concert-room song commencing ‘ Guardian angels, 
now protect me,’ the music of which probably 
originated in Dublin, where it was sung by a 
Mr. Mahone, and no doubt also by Miss Catley, 
who resided in the Irish capital in 1750. The 
melody of ‘Guardian angels’ was not in the 
‘Golden Pippin’ as originally written, but, adapted 
to the words of the burlesque, was introduced into 
it in 1776 in the place of a song by Giordani, and 
was sung by Miss Catley in the character of Juno. 
The published score of the ‘Golden Pippin’ does 
not contain any horn-pipe, but such a dance 
may have been interpolated in the action of the 
piece.” 

The writer concludes by saying: “In 1765, 
when ‘ Olivers’ was published, Miss Catley was in 
Ireland and did not return to London until five 
years afterwards, and, seeing that the hornpipe was 


54 ADVENT HYMNS 


not of earlier date than the ‘Golden Pippin,’ it 
seems to follow that instead of the hymn tune 
having been derived from the hornpipe, the latter 
was actually constructed from the hymn tune, 
which by that time had become a great favourite.” 
This recollection may help to console us when 
next we sing, “Lo! He comes with clouds 
descending.” 

The late Rev. Canon Tuttiett has written many 
hymns for special occasions, his Advent hymn, 
“O quickly come, dread Judge of all” being re- 
markably fine. It is based on the words “ Surely 
I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord 
Jesus Christ.” In some respects it is not unlike 
a translation of the Dies Jrae. It was written 
in 1854 while Mr. Tuttiett was Vicar of Lea 
Marston, and was one of the first hymns the 
author ever wrote. Indeed, it was always some- 
thing of a surprise to the hymnist that its success 
was so much greater than many of the com- 
positions he wrote in later life, when, it may be 
supposed, he had gained experience regarding the 
kind of hymns likely to prove most attractive. 

“O quickly come, dread Judge of all” was 
published in the author’s Hymns for Churchmen, 
after which it passed into the first Appendix to 
Hymns Ancient and Modern, and from thence 


ADVENT HYMNS 55 


into numerous hymnals both in Great Britain and 
America. It has been translated into several 
languages, including the Latin, and is probably 
the most popular of all Canon Tuttiett’s com- 
positions. 

Soon after its publication it was seen by the 
Rev. J. B. Dykes, who wrote for it that very 
beautiful and solemn air which he christened 
miwent cito.” 

Canon Tuttiett was born at the little village of 
Colyton, in. Devon, in 1825, his father being a 
surgeon in the Royal Navy. It was intended 
that he should also follow the profession of a 
doctor, but in 1848 he abandoned this intention 
in favour of the Church. While acting as curate 
in the Isle of Wight his preaching attracted the 
attention of Lord Norton, who, in 1854, presented 
him with the living of Lea Marston, which he 
filled for sixteen years. Lord Norton used to 
affirm that Mr. Tuttiett’s preaching equalled that 
of Bishop Wilberforce. In 1870 he became In- 
cumbent of the Episcopal Church of St. Andrew’s, 
and ten years later was preferred to a Canonry 
in St. Ninian’s Cathedral, Perth. Canon Tuttiett 
remained at St. Andrew’s until 1893, when owing 
to ill-health he was obliged to resign. 


‘II 
Christms thymns 


[* a general consenys of opinion were taken 

as to which is the most popular of all 
Christmas hymns the result would probably be 
in favour of “ Hark! te herald-angels sing.” This 
famous hymn was frst published by Charles 
Wesley in 1739, whe, it began “ Hark! how all 
the welkin rings.” From that date it has ap- 
peared in various hrmnals with alterations by 
various editors. In on; version, indeed, the open- 
ing stanza contained bu: a single word to be found 
in the original, that wird being the exclamatory 
“Hark.” As first pubished this hymn consisted 
of ten stanzas of fourtines each, but was subse- 
quently reduced to eig|t, then to six, and, finally, 
to three extended stan’s of eight lines each, with 
the refrain— 

“Hark! the h¢ald-angels sing 


Glory to the new-born King.” 
56 


CHRISTMAS HYMNS 57 


Apparently no manuscript of this hymn exists, 
though Mr. Kelly, the Book Steward at the 
Wesleyan Conference Office, thinks otherwise. 
One day he hopes to make a systematic search 
among the many hundreds of Charles Wesley’s 
manuscripts now under his care, when he feels 
confident the original of “ Hark! the herald-angels 
sing” will come to light. 

It is rather curious that these hymnal manu- 
scripts of Charles Wesley have only been dis- 
covered within comparatively recent years. The 
story of how they were found is an interesting 
one. It appears that soon after Mr. Kelly was 
appointed Book Steward he was going on a tour 
of inspection through the cellars of No. 2, Castle 
Street, when he came to a small underground 
room which was boarded up. On having the 
barricade removed it was discovered that the 
compartment contained many things of interest 
connected with the Wesleys, not the least im- 
portant being some fourteen volumes of manu- 
script hymns in the handwritings of Charles, John, 
and Samuel Wesley. Together with these volumes 
were numerous loose sheets of paper, on which 
the celebrated hymnists had written the first 
drafts of their compositions before copying them 
“fair” into the bound volumes, These loose 


58 CHRISTMAS HYMNS 


sheets are extremely interesting, as they contain 
numerous corrections which convey some idea of 
what the first impressions of the hymnists really 
were. 

Charles Wesley composed his hymns at all 
times of the day and night, never knowing when 
a fine line or verse would strike him. In order 
that these ideas should not be lost, he was in the 
habit of carrying about with him a set of tablets 
on which many of his hymns were written. He 
would then copy out these rough notes on a sheet 
of quarto paper, correct and finally copy “ fair” 
into a manuscript book. Charles wrote a beauti- 
fully clear hand, bold, and, as was his character, 
fearless and straightforward. 

“Hark! the herald-angels sing” is said to be 
found in more hymnals than any other of Charles 
Wesley’s compositions, not even excepting “ Jesu, 
Lover of my soul.” It has been translated into 
numerous languages and dialects, and is as familiar 
to the converted natives of China and Africa as 
it is to the church-going population of our own 
country. 

“ Christians, awake, salute the happy morn” has 
been a favourite Christmas hymn for the last 150 
years or more. It was written in 1745, and the 
story of its composition is a pretty one. John 


CHRISTMAS HYMNS 59 


Byrom, the author, had several children, but, like 
many another father, he had his “favourite.” 
This child was a little girl named “ Dolly,’ who 
afterwards became Mrs. Dorothy Byrom. A few 
days prior to Christmas, 1745, Mr. Byrom, after 
having had a romp with the favoured Dolly, 
promised to write her something for Christmas 
Day. It was to be written specially for herself, 
and no one else. The child, highly honoured and 
delighted, did not fail to remind her father of his 
promise each day as Christmas drew nearer. On 
the morning of the great day, when she ran down 
to breakfast, she found several presents waiting 
for her. Among these was an envelope addressed 
to her in her father’s handwriting. It was the 
first thing she opened, and, to her great delight, 
proved to be a Christmas carol addressed to her, 
and to her alone :— 


vhant awoke, \alute he happy Alor 
ag TL RN 


In the original the MS. is headed “Christmas 
Day for Dolly.” This very document is now 
preserved in the archives of Cheetham’s Hospital, 
Manchester, and, though a little creased and 
crumpled, probably from being carried about in 


60 CHRISTMAS HYMNS 


Miss Dolly’s pocket, is in an excellent state of 
preservation. After remaining in the Byrom 
family for close upon a century it passed into the 
possession of James Crossby, at one time honorary 
Librarian to Cheetham’s Hospital, and at his death 
was purchased by the authorities of that insti- 
tution. 

The carol—it is perhaps more a carol than a 
hymn—was first published in 1746 in Harrop’s 
Manchester Mercury, where it soon attracted the 
attention of hymnists and others. Soon after the 
publication of the carol it was seen by the organist 
of the parish church (now the pro-cathedral), a 
clever musician called John Wainwright, and a 
composer of some note. He was struck by the 
words, and wrote for them the beautiful and 
popular setting known as “Stockport” or “ Wain- 
wright,” to which they have ever since been sung. 
The composer sent a copy of the tune to the 
author of the hymn, who was delighted with its 
appropriateness, and this introduction began a 
friendship between the two men which was only 
broken by death. 

John Byrom had a chequered career. In a 
letter received some time ago from Cheetham’s 
Hospital, Mr. W. E. A. Axon, of Manchester, thus 
writes of him— 


CHRISTMAS HYMNS 61 


“He was born in Kelsal in 1691. His father, 
a linen draper of Manchester, sent him to Cam- 
bridge, where he graduated M.A. and became a 
Fellow of Trinity College ; but, declining to take 
Orders, he resigned this provision, and soon after 
married his cousin, Mrs. Elizabeth Byrom, against 
the consent of both families. Being without a 
profession, and pressed by the res angusta domi, 
he repaired to the metropolis, and supported him- 
self by teaching shorthand, of which he had 
invented the best system then before the public. 
In 1723 he was elected Fellow of the Royal 
Society, and in the following year succeeded, by 
the death of his elder brother, to the family 
estates, when he returned to Manchester, where 
he remained till his death in 1763.” 

Byrom’s early boyhood was passed at the King’s 
School, Chester, a fact of which Cestrians are not a 
little proud, for though the old school can boast a 
goodly list of famous men whose education has 
been carried on within its walls, the author of 
“Christians, awake” will not be the first for- 
gotten. 

To the library which now contains most of his 
MSS. John Byrom was a frequent visitor, and 
numerous are the hymns which he wrote for the 
Cheetham Hospital boys. In a letter to Thyer, 


62 CHRISTMAS HYMNS 


the then librarian, he says he preferred that em- 
ployment to being Laureate to Frederick II., 
who was then occupied in the Seven Years’ 
War. 

The portrait of this hymnist, ugly at first sight, 
but kindly and good-humoured on closer examina- 
tion, is from a print contained in the College 
“Scrap-book.” It is said to have been executed 
by a friend. 

Only one other hymn by Byrom has come into 
general use, and is to be met with in our hymnals. 
It is a tender little composition and somewhat 
original. The manner in which the last line of 
one verse forms the first line of the following 
verse is quaint and effective. As it is short, 
consisting of four stanzas only, I quote it— 

My spirit longeth for Thee, 
Within my troubled breast, 


Though I unworthy be 
Of so Divine a guest: 


Of so Divine a guest 
Unworthy though I be, 
Yet has my heart no rest 
Unless it come from Thee: 


Unless it come from Thee, 
In vain I look around ; 

In all that I can see 

No rest is to be found : 


CHRISTMAS HYMNS 63 


No rest is to be found 
But in Thy blessed love ; 
O let my wish be crowned, 
And send it from above. 


This little hymn deserves to be far better known 
than it is at present. 

“As with gladness men of old,” though, strictly 
speaking, an Epiphany hymn, is frequently sung at 
Christmas, and therefore no apology is needed for 
giving it a place under this chapter. It was written 
by the late Mr. William Chatterton Dix about the 
year 1860. In a letter received from the author 
shortly before his lamented death in 1900, Mr. 
Dix informed me that there was little of interest 
to record respecting its composition. He was un- 
well at the time, slowly recovering from a rather 
serious illness. One evening, when he felt some- 
what stronger than he had for several days, the 
lines of the now well-known hymn gradually 
formed themselves in his brain, and, asking for writ- 
ing materials, he committed them to paper. The 
following year it was published in a small hymnal, 
which had a very limited circulation. From 
thence it made its way into more popular collec- 
tions, and to-day its reputation has become world- 
wide. The late Lord Selborne, who was a great 
admirer of Mr. Chatterton Dix’s hymns, considered 


64 CHRISTMAS HYMNS 


“As with gladness men of old” one of the finest 
compositions of the kind in the language. 

The wonderfully appropriate melody to which 
this hymn is invariably sung was composed by 
Conrad Kocher in 1838. This tune was first 
connected with Mr. Dix’s hymn in Ancient 
and Modern and will now probably always be 
associated with it. It has been suggested that 
Mr. Chatterton Dix wrote the hymn to fit the 
music, but this is not the case. 

“While shepherds watch’d their flocks by 
night” has for a hundred and fifty years or 
more been the standard carol of the “ Waits” at 
Christmas time. It was written by Nahum Tate 
some time near the close of the seventeenth 
century, and first published in Tate and Brady’s 
Psalter, 1702. There is little doubt that this hymn 
was the work of Tate alone, though in some 
hymnals it is ascribed to these writers jointly. 

Nahum Tate was an Irishman, and born in 
Dublin in 1652. He was educated at Trinity 
College and at an early age became Poet Laure- 
ate. He collaborated with Brady in producing 
in 1696 A New Version of the Psalms of 
David. The different hymns in this volume 
were written to certain tunes already familiar in 
the churches, and though the book was subjected 


CHRISTMAS HYMNS 65 


to a good deal of adverse criticism it soon began 
to be used in a considerable number of churches. 
How the work was divided between the two, what 
portion one wrote and what the other, will never 
be known, and therefore those versions of the 
Psalms which have passed from this work into 
our hymnals—“ Through all the changing scenes 
of life,’ “As pants the hart for cooling streams,” 
etc., have come to be regarded as by Tate and 
Brady. One of the few hymns conclusively 
proved to be by Tate alone is “ While shepherds 
watch’d.” After leading anything but a tem- 
perate life, Tate died in London at the age of 
sixty-three. 

“O come,all ye faithful, Joyful and triumphant” 
is Canon Oakeley’s translation of the Adeste Fideles. 
It is by far the most popular version we have, and 
was first published in 1852. It soon became one 
of the foremost hymns for Christmas and is now to 
be found in nearly all hymnals published during 
the last forty years. Translations of Canon Oake- 
ley’s version have been published in the languages 
of nearly all countries where missions have pene- 
trated, and the hymn is a general favourite among 
the Malays and Dyaks. In most cases the trans- 
lator has adhered to the original metre so that the 
music to which the translation is sung is the same 

F.H. 5 


66 CHRISTMAS HYMNS 


as that with which we are all familiar—Adeste 
Fideles. 

This is not the only translation of this hymn 
made by Canon Oakeley. When he was In- 
cumbent of Margaret Street Chapel in 1841 he 
made another and an earlier one beginning “ Ye 
faithful, approach ye.” This, however, was written 
exclusively for his own congregation, amongst 
whom it was distributed in manuscript. Many 
years afterwards, however, it appeared in one or 
two collections, though it has never gained much 
favour with hymnal editors. Indeed, Canon Oake- 
ley may be said to have himself cast in the shade 
his first translation by the brilliancy of his second. 

Canon Oakeley is but one of many cele- 
brated hymnists who have left the Church of 
England in order to enter the Church of Rome. 
He was born in 1802 and educated at Christ 
Church, Oxford, taking Holy Orders in 1828. 
After becoming a Prebendary of Lichfield Cathe- 
dral he was in 1839 made Incumbent of Margaret 
Street Chapel, London. Here he remained for six 
years, but in 1845 the great change of his life came 
and he seceded to the Churchof Rome. For many 
years he worked among the poor of Westminster, 
leading an uneventful but exemplary life. He died 
in 1880 at the age of seventy-eight. 


CHRISTMAS HYMNS 67 


Among the many other translations of the 
Adeste Fideles, which have been published during 
the last fifty years or so, the only one which 
comes into competition with Canon Oakeley’s in 
the matter of public favour is by the Rev. William 
Mercer, beginning with the same line, “ O come, 
all ye faithful.” It was written later than Canon 
Oakeley’s version, and the two translations are not 
dissimilar. In order that readers may compare 
the two, I give the first verse of Mr. Mercer's 
translation ; that by Canon Oakeley will be found 
in any ordinary modern hymnal— 


O come, all ye faithful, 
Joyfully triumphant. 

To Bethlehem hasten now with glad accord ; 
Lo! in a manger 
Lies the King of angels ; 

O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. 


Apart from his translation of the Adeste Fideles, 
Mr. Mercer is little known as a hymn writer. He 
gained great reputation, however, as an editor, his 
Church Psalter and Hymn-book being at one time 
the most popular collection in the language. He 
was for many years Vicar of St. George’s, Sheffield, 
where he died in 1873 at the age of sixty-two. 

A Christmas hymn, which is immensely popular 
in America, and growing in favour in England, is 


68 CHRISTMAS HYMNS 


“Tt came upon the midnight clear.” It is the 
work of an American writer, and was written in 
1849. It was sent to the editor of the Christian 
Register, and first appeared in that magazine early 
in 1850. From thence it passed into various 
American hymnals, and soon made its way to 
England. The author, Edmund Hamilton Sears, 
has also written another hymn for Christmas, 
which is gaining in popularity in this country. 
Though not as perfect a composition as “ It came 
upon the midnight clear,” this hymn, beginning, 
“Calm on the listening ear of night,” is a very 
beautiful Christmas hymn, and deserves to be 
more widely used. Mr. Sears was pastor of 
various churches in America, and died at Weston, 
Massachusetts, in 1876. 

“From heaven above to earth I come” is 
Miss Catherine Winkworth’s translation of Martin 
Luther’s celebrated Christmas hymn. It was 
written specially for his little son, Hans, when the 
child was five years old, during the latter part of 
1531, but not published until four years later. No 
man observed Christmas with more punctilious- 
ness than did Martin Luther, and he educated his 
children to regard the season with similar venera- 
tion. 

On every Christmas Eve a festival took place 


CHRISTMAS HYMNS 69 


in Martin Luther’s house, and it was for the 
children’s use at these festivals that “ From heaven 
above to earth I come” was written. Luther 
himself was on these occasions the master of the 
ceremonies, and for many days before Christmas 
he conducted rehearsals, training his children to 
sing the carol perfectly when the festival night 
came. The first seven verses of the hymn were 
always sung by a man dressed as an angel. 
When he had finished, the children greeted him 
with the remaining verses, beginning— 

Welcome to earth, thou noble guest, 

Through whom e’en wicked men are blest! 


Thou com’st to share our misery ; 
What can we render, Lord, to Thee? 


In early editions of Luther’s Hymnal this hymn 
is headed “Children’s Song from the Second 
Chapter of St. Luke. Drawn up by Dr. M. L.” 
It is still sung from the dome of the Kreuz- 
kirche in Dresden before daybreak on Christmas 
morning. 

The tune to which this hymn is usually sung is 
also ascribed to Martin Luther, but whether he 
really wrote it or not it is difficult to say. 

“Of the Father’s love begotten ” is a translation 
of a portion of a poem by Prudentius, written in 
the fifth century. This poem, which is of con- 


Orie) fat si tat 


70 CHRISTMAS HYMNS 


siderable length, deals with the miracles of Christ, 
and has long been a favourite with translators. 
By far the most popular version, however, is that 
beginning “ Of the Father’s love begotten,” which 
first appeared in Hymns Ancient and Modern. It 
is the combined work of John Mason Neale and 
Sir Henry Baker. The manner in which the two 
hymnists made their translation is interesting, 
Each translated the hymn independently, after- 
wards comparing the translations. The best 
verses were then chosen from each translation, and 
thus the hymn was built up. Each freely criti- 
cised the other’s work, the result being a very fine 
hymn. I might mention that Neale had the 
honour of contributing the first verse. Of the 
entire hymn, Neale contributed five stanzas, and 
Baker four. It is usually sung to a very beautiful 
Plainsong, “ Corde natus,” so called from the first 
two words of the original Latin. 

A hymn which should by rights be included in 
a section devoted to the season of Epiphany, is 
Bishop Heber’s :— 

beet fthu Sony f Ke a 

we hm tack Ke Mery on. 


It is, however, becoming year by year more 


t THE REV. T. J. POTTER. 2 MRS. M. F. MAUDE. 
From a Photo. From a Photo. 


3 THE VERY REV. HENRY HART MILMAN, D.D. 
From a Photo. 


CHRISTMAS HYMNS 71 


often sung at Christmas, and I therefore give 
it a place in this chapter. This hymn was 
first published in a weekly paper called the 
Christian Observer, in 1811. It did not, however, 
make its appearance in any hymnal until after 
Heber’s death, when it was published in a collec- 
tion of his own hymns. It has gradually made its 
way in public favour until to-day it is side by side 
with the same author’s “ Holy, holy, holy, Lord 
God Almighty,” in point of popularity. Curiously 
enough it has not yet been included in Hymns 
Ancient and Modern. 

The manuscript of this hymn will be found 
in a small collection of hymns compiled by 
Bishop Heber, now deposited in the Manuscript 
Department of the British Museum. This col- 
lection, all the hymns of which are written in 
Bishop Heber’s wonderfully clear handwriting, 
consists of two volumes made up of a couple 
of ordinary twopenny exercise books, which pos- 
sibly belonged to one of his own children, for 
the backs are scribbled all over with problems 
in Euclid. 

This MS. collection of hymns, made by Heber 
after seeing the Olney hymns, of which he was 
a great admirer, belonged to Dean Milman, 
having been presented to him by his friend 


72 CHRISTMAS HYMNS 


the Bishop. There were no hymns Heber ad- 
mired more than Dean Milman’s, and the collec- 
tion contains several by the latter hymnist. After 
remaining for many years in Dean Milman’s 
family, it was presented to the British Museum. 
The most successful Christmas hymn which 
James Montgomery ever wrote was “Angels from 
the realms of glory,” which first appeared, like 
many others of his composition, in a Sheffield 
newspaper called the /rzs, of which he was both 
owner and editor. It was printed in the Christ- 
mas Eve number for the year 1816, and attracted 
no more notice at the time than any other con- 
tribution in the paper. For many years it re- 
mained practically unknown, appearing in no 
hymnal of note until 1825, when the author re- 
published it in his Chrizsttan Psalmist. After 
that date it began to find its way into numerous 
hymnals, both British and American, and to-day 
it ranks with the best of his compositions. 
Montgomery is the author of between 400 and 
500 hymns, many of which are worthy to sank 
with the very best of Watts, Wesley, Cowper, and 
Doddridge. His hymns were first circulated in 
manuscript, and a great number of these interest- 
ing documents have been preserved. He usually 
wrote on half sheets of writing paper, and each 


CHRISTMAS HYMNS 73 


composition bore at the foot the date when it was 
written, and his signature. Though some of his 
hymns came spontaneously, he corrected a good 
deal; and even after publication he could seldom 
resist making further alterations when fresh edi- 
tions were needed. He was extremely self-critical, 
and was as hard on his own compositions as those 
of other writers. A man of sterling qualities, his 
character was as devotional, simple and refined as 
his hymns. He passed away in his sleep in 1854, 
his funeral taking place with full public honours at 
Sheffield. 

“ Waken, Christian children” is a Christmas 
hymn which I cannot omit from mention in 
this little volume. It was written when the 
author, Samuel Collingwood Hamerton, was barely 
twenty years of age. It appeared first of all, I 
believe, in a magazine and was afterwards re- 
published in a small book of carols in 1872—the 
year the author died. It was based on the text: 
“They saw the young Child with Mary His 
mother, and worshipped Him : and they presented 
unto Him gifts.” This hymn, or carol, as the 
author called it, is specially suited to children by 
reason of the following verses— 


Fear not then to enter, 
Though we cannot bring 


14 CHRISTMAS HYMNS 
Gold, or myrrh, or incense 
Fitting for a King. 


Gifts He asketh richer, 
Offerings costlier still ; 
Yet may Christian children 
Bring them if they will. 


Brighter than all jewels 
Shines the modest eye ; 

Best of gifts, He loveth 
Infant purity. 

Mr. Hamerton was for many years Vicar of St. 
Paul’s, Warwick, where he died on January 6, 
1872, in the fortieth year of his age. “ Waken, 
Christian children” is the only hymn by Mr. 
Hamerton to be found in our hymnals. The 
music to which it is allied is also by the author— 
a simple melody admirably fitting the words. 

Dean Farrar has not written a great number of 
hymns, in fact they might all be counted on the 
fingers of one hand, but he is the author of several 
carols, at least one of which should be in every 
hymnal. I refer to his :-— 


x, Ud wit Mea 


of which the following is the first verse— 


CHRISTMAS HYMNS 15 


In the field with their flocks abiding, 
They lay on the dewy ground, 

And glimm’ring under the starlight 
The sheep lay white around, 

When the light of the Lord streamed o’er them, 
And lo! from the heaven above 

An angel leaned from the glory, 
And sang his song of love ; 

He sang, that first sweet Christmas, 
The song that shall never cease— 

Glory to God in the highest, 
On earth good-will and peace. 


This carol, Dean Farrar tells me, was written 
while he was an assistant master at Harrow 
School. It was composed expressly for the boys 
there, and was frequently sung in the chapel. It 
has been very effectively set to music by Mr. John 
Farmer in his “ Christ and His Soldiers.” 

Dean Farrar is also the author of “ Father, 
before Thy throne of light ” and “ God the Father, 
great and holy,” two hymns of great merit, which 
are not in as many hymnals as they might be. 

I cannot bring this chapter to a conclusion 
without quoting a little story relating to a Christ- 
mas carol sung in the olden days, which I came 
across while making researches in the British 
Museum. It is told in “ Pasquil’s Book of Jests” 
and headed “ A Merrie Carroll sung by Women.” 

“There was sometime an olde knight,” relates 


76 CHRISTMAS HYMNS 


the chronicler, “ who, being disposed to make him- 
selfe merrie in a Christmas time, sent for many of 
his tenants and poore neighbours with their wives 
to dinner ; when, having made meat to be set on 
the table, would suffer no man to drinke until he 
that was master ouer his wife should sing a carroll 
to excuse all the company. Muche niceness there 
was who should be the musician, yet with muche 
adoe, looking one upon the other, with a dry 
hemme or two, a dreamy companion drew out as 
muche as he durst towards an old fashioned-ditty, 
when, having made an end, to the great comfort of 
the listeners, at last it came to the women’s table, 
where likewise commandment was given that there 
should no drinke be touched until she that was 
master ouer her husband had sung a Christmas 
carroll, whereupon they all fell to such a singing 
that there was never heard such a catterwalling 
peece of musicke, whereat the knight laughed so 
heartilly that it did him as muche good as a corner 
of his Christmas pie.” 


IV 
bymns Suitable for the Hew Wear 


T is somewhat remarkable that the number of 
hymns specially composed for the New Year 
should constitute the smallest section of our 
hymnals; yet so it is. I shall, therefore, make no 
apology for including in this chapter many hymns 
which, while not written specially for this season of 
the year, are regarded by the majority of hymno- 
logists as more or less suited for congregational 
singing on New Year’s Day. 

“Our God, our help in ages past,” or, as it is 
given in most hymnals, “O God, our help in 
ages past,” is particularly suited for the New Year, 
forcing upon us, as it does, the remembrance that 
earthly life is, at best, but short. The hymn is a 
paraphrase of the goth Psalm and was first 
published by Dr. Watts in his Psalms of David 
in 1719. Ofall Isaac Watts’ compositions this is, 
perhaps, the finest, outrivalling even his “When I 


survey the wondrous Cross,” 
77 


78 HYMNS FOR THE NEW YEAR 


Whatever hymns of Dr. Watts may cease to 
be sung, “O God, our help in ages past” wili 
live so long as the Church endures. In the 
original it consisted of nine verses, but these 
have long since been reduced to six. It was 
Charles Wesley who changed the opening line to 
“QO God, our help in ages past,” besides making 
many other alterations. 

Dr. Watts is rightly looked upon as the founder 
of English hymnody. He composed many of his 
hymns “ to order,” which probably accounts for a 
great number of them being very poor stuff. For 
two years he is said to have written a new hymn 
every week, the majority of which were sung in 
the church in Southampton where he was accus- 
tomed to worship. A story is told that one day 
Watts complained to one of the deacons respecting 
the poorness of the hymns which were then in use, 
and that the deacon, rather nettled at the remark, 
ironically suggested that he should write some- 
thing better himself. Watts, not at all offended, 
decided to do so, and the following Sunday arrived 
with his first hymn, which was sung by the 
congregation, being repeated after the clergyman. 
This hymn was “ Behold the glories of the Lamb,” 
and was so favourably received that the author 
was requested to write another for the following 


HYMNS FOR THE NEW YEAR 79 


Sunday. It was in this way that Dr. Watts’ 
reputation as a hymnist began. 

The tune to which “O God, our help in ages 
past” is almost universally sung, known as “St. 
Anne,” was in existence some thirty years before 
the hymn was written, and first appeared in 
Barbers Psalm Tunes 1687, the composition 
being ascribed to “Mr. Denby.” It is not at all 
improbable, therefore, that the hymn was sung to 
this same tune in the days when Watts himself 
joined in the singing of his own compositions. 

Probably the greatest favourite of all hymns 
specially written for New Year’s Day, and the one 
which is most often sung on that occasion, is the 
late Canon Tuttiett’s “Father, let me dedicate.” 
It is a hymn full of promise and hope for the 
coming year. In America it is equally popular, 
being invariably sung at every New Year’s service, 
both in chapel and church. The American 
versions, however, nearly all begin with “Father, 
here we dedicate,” and the number of alterations 
are remarkable. The final verse in some hymnals 
has been altered from the original to— . 


If we must in grief and loss 
Thy behest obey, 

If beneath the shadowy Cross 
Lies our homeward way ; 


80 HYMNS FOR THE NEW YEAR 


We will think what Thy dear Son 
Once for us became, 

And repeat till life is done, 
Glorify Thy Name. 


It is interesting to note that in this verse the only 
line which adheres to the original is the last— 
“Glorify Thy Name.” 

This hymn was written sometime during the 
year 1864, while Mr. Tuttiett was Vicar of Lea 
Marston, in Warwickshire. In a letter received 
from the author in 1895, Canon Tuttiett tells me 
that there is no particular incident connected with 
the writing of this hymn. The author had been 
struck for some time by the fact that hymns for 
New Year’s Day were particularly scarce, and he 
therefore determined to try if he could supply 
what he felt was a very evident want. “Father, 
let me dedicate” was the result. 

A very beautiful hymn, written specially for the 
Old and the New Year, is Horatius Bonar’s “A 
few more years shall roll.” This hymn was com- 
posed while Mr. Bonar was superintendent of the 
Sunday School attached to the Church of St. 
James’, Leith. It was one of the first he ever 
wrote, and was composed expressly for his Sunday 
School scholars. 

Dr. Bonar wrote his hymns at odd times and 


HYMNS FOR THE NEW YEAR 81 


under various circumstances. The Rev. R. H. 
Lundie, an intimate friend of the late hymnist, 
said in a memorial service preached at Grange, 
Edinburgh :—“ His hymns were written in very 
varied circumstances, sometimes timed by the 
tinkling brook that babbled near him; some- 
times attuned to the ordered tramp of the ocean, 
whose crested waves broke on the beach by 
which he wandered; sometimes set to the rude 
music of the railway train that hurried him to 
the scene of duty; sometimes measured by the 
silent rhythm of the midnight stars that shone 
above him.” 

“ A few more years shall roll” was first printed 
in the form of a leaflet, and distributed among the 
congregation of St. James’, Leith. Here it was 
sung for the first time on New Year’s Day, 1843, 
only a few months before the author left the 
Established Church to become a minister of the 
Free Church of Scotland. The following year Dr. 
Bonar published it in his Songs for the Wilderness, 
after which it appeared in several hymnals, ulti- 
mately becoming one of the most widely sung of 
all Dr. Bonar’s hymns. The appropriate music to 
which it is set was the work of the Rev. L. G. 
Hayne. 

“Days and moments quickly flying” is one of 

F.H. 6 


82 HYMNS FOR THE NEW YEAR 


the few original hymns by the late Edward 
Caswall which have gained any great hold on the 
_affections of our own Church. It was specially 
composed for use at “ Watch-night” services on 
New Year’s Eve or the day following. Like a 
great number of Mr. Caswall’s other hymns, this 
composition was written after the author had 
seceded to the Church of Rome, and while he 
was at the Oratory, Edgbaston. It was first pub- 
lished in his Masque of Mary and other Poems 
in 1858, and rapidly made its way into public 
favour with Protestants as well as Roman 
Catholics. 

“Days and moments quickly flying” appears in 
various hymnals in various forms. Caswall is the 
author of four stanzas only, the concluding stanza 
as given in Hymns Actent and Modern— 


Whence we came, and whither wending ; 
Soon we must through darkness go, 
To inherit bliss unending, 
Or eternity of woe. 


being by the compilers of that popular hymnal. 

In the Church Hymnary the hymn is given in 
an extended form and divided into two portions, 
each part concluding with the following somewhat 
curious stanza— 


HYMNS FOR THE NEW YEAR 83 


Life passeth soon ; 
Death draweth near : 
Keep us, good Lord, 
Till Thou appear,— 
With Thee to live, 
With Thee to die, 
With Thee to reign through eternity. 


This hymn is sometimes also sung as a funeral 
hymn. The exquisite melody to which it is allied 
is by Dr. J. B. Dykes—one of the most successful 
of his many beautiful compositions. 

A hymn suitable for the New Year, though 
originally written for Advent, is Charles Wesley’s 
“Thou Judge of quick and dead.” It is by no 
means as often sung to-day as it was in Wesley’s 
time, containing as it does verses of a rather 
terrible nature. A hundred and fifty years ago 
congregations gloried in such verses as— 


The solemn midnight cry, 
Ye dead, the Judge is come! 
Arise and meet Him in the sky, 
And meet your instant doom! 


but since then opinions have changed and we have 
come to regard the Great Judge of all as merciful 
rather than severe. 

This hymn appears in the MS. volumes left 
behind by Charles Wesley. The copy is a “fair” 


84 HYMNS FOR THE NEW YEAR 


one and contains no corrections. In John Wesley’s 
Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists 
this hymn is given, as originally written, in 
four stanzas of eight lines each, but in many 
collections it is broken up into eight verses of 
four lines. The final verse is one of the finest 
Charles Wesley ever wrote :— 


O may we thus be found 
Obedient to His Word, 

Attentive to the trumpet’s sound 
And looking for our Lord ! 

O may we thus ensure 
A lot among the blest ; 

And watch a moment to secure 
An everlasting rest. 


A hymn by the late Miss Frances Ridley 
Havergal, which was specially written for New 
Year’s Day, and which is becoming year by year 
more universally sung, is “Jesus, bless¢d Saviour,” 
written at Leamington in November, 1872. This 
hymn was originally intended for children; but 
after it was written Miss Havergal, thinking that 
it was perhaps quite as suitable for grown-up 
people as for little folk, scored through the words 
“For the little ones,” and it now appears among 
those hymns specially devoted to the New Year, 
and may be sung with equal appropriateness by 
either children or adults. 


HYMNS FOR THE NEW YEAR 85 


The MS. of this hymn was found loose in a 
volume of the late Miss Havergal’s hymns, 
together with others which are equally well known. 
It was written without difficulty, the lines being 
conceived almost as quickly as the authoress could 
write them down. There are very few corrections 
in the original manuscript, and the hymn as given 
in the majority of collections is exactly as the 
authoress wrote it. In this respect Miss Havergal 
was more fortunate than a great number of 
writers. On more than one occasion, however, 
she was asked by hymnal editors if she had any 
objection to a line being altered. She was very 
quick to acknowledge an improvement, and when 
an alteration helped to make a verse clearer or 
more direct in its meaning she cheerfully consented 
to its being made. 

“Jesus, bless¢d Saviour” is based on the words 
“Thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou 
shalt guide me with Thy counsel,” and was written 
to a melody of German origin which was a great 
favourite with the authoress. 

“The year is gone beyond recall” is the Rev. 
Francis Pott’s translation of a Latin hymn, the 
author of which is unknown. It is one of the 
most widely known of all New Year’s hymns and 
is a great favourite in France and other European 


86 HYMNS FOR THE NEW YEAR 


countries. The version as given in Aymns 
Ancient and Modern has been a good deal altered 
by the compilers from Mr. Pott’s original transla- 
tion, and the following Doxology added— 
All glory to the Father be, 
All glory to the Son, 
All glory, Holy Ghost, to Thee, 
While endless ages run. 
This Doxology is also used at the conclusion of 
several other hymns. 
Though Mr. Pott is the author of several original 
hymns it is as a translator that he is most widely 
known. 


V 


bymns on the Passion 


T is only natural, perhaps, that those hymns 

which have been written commemorative of 
the death of our Lord should be among the 
saddest in our hymnals. Many of them have 
taken their place with the finest examples of 
religious verse in the language, and have gained 
for their authors names which will be forgotten 
only when hymns cease to be sung. 

In this chapter I shall not only refer to those 
hymns which have been specially written on the 
Passion, but also to several which are more or less 
suited to that season. Among these latter may 
be mentioned Cardinal Newman’s “ Praise to the 
Holiest in the height,” which was written in 1865 
and formed part of a long poem entitled “The 
Dream of Gerontius.” 


This poem, as my readers are probably aware, 
i 87 


38 HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


is descriptive of the journey of a soul to Paradise, 
and the many hymns introduced are supposed to 
be sung by different choirs of Angelicals. As 
the soul is conducted into the presence chamber 
of the Emmanuel, the “ Fifth Choir of Angelicals” 
sing the magnificent lines which have now been 
incorporated into our hymnals :— 
Praise to the Holiest in the height, 
And in the depth be praise ; 


In all His words most wonderful, 
Most sure in all His ways. 


Newman himself thought little of the poem at 
the time of writing it. Three years after its com- 
position the editor of a religious magazine wrote 
to the cardinal asking him to contribute “some- 
thing” to his paper. He was just about to write 
and decline when he bethought himself of the 
“Dream,” and sent it. The composition was pub- 
lished and immediately attracted attention, though 
it never became really popular. The same year 
that saw its publication the compilers of one of 
our most popular hymnals requested permission 
to insert the hymn, as sung by the “ Fifth Choir of 
Angelicals,” to their appendix. This the cardinal 
readily granted, and Dr. Dykes wrote for it the 
very fine tune entitled “Gerontius,” to which it is 
now invariably sung. As in the case of “Lead, 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 89 


kindly light,” Cardinal Newman used to protest 
that the melody had a good deal to do with the 
popularity of the hymn. 

There is no difference between “Praise to the 
Holiest in the height ” as it appears in the “Dream” 
and in the hymnals, for Cardinal Newman never 
permitted compilers to tamper with or “improve” 
his compositions, preferring rather that they should 
be omitted altogether. The cutting words he is 
reported to have uttered regarding the editor who 
added a fourth verse to his “Lead, kindly light” 
may be remembered. 

Some years ago, when Mr. Gladstone was asked 
to name his favourite hymns, he replied that he 
scarcely knew whether he had a “favourite” or 
not, and then, on the impulse of the moment, he 
mentioned “ Lead, kindly light” and “Rock of 
Ages.” On his deathbed, however, the great 
statesman found his greatest consolation and 
strength in “ Praise to the Holiest in the height,” 
and in a touching sermon preached in St. Paul’s 
Cathedral during Mr. Gladstone’s last illness, 
Canon Scott Holland referred to the late Premier 
as “spending his life in benediction to those 
whom he leaves behind in this world, and in 
thanksgiving to God, to whom he rehearses over 
and over again, day after day, Newman’s hymn of 


go HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


austere and splendid adoration, ‘ Praise to the 
Holiest in the height.’ ” 

The names of Gladstone and Gordon will long 
be linked together, and it is strange as it is 
touching to recall the fact that when all hope had 
been abandoned, the hero of Khartoum fortified 
himself for death with the very words which were 
the comfort and consolation of Mr. Gladstone 
during his last days on earth :— 

O Generous Love! that He who smote 
In man for man the foe! 


The double agony in man 
For man should undergo. 


A hymn specially written for Passiontide, to 
which is attached a double interest from the fact 
that the words and music are by brother and 
sister, is :— 

And now, belovéd Lord, Thy Soul resigning 

Into Thy Father’s arms with conscious Will, 
Calmly, with reverend grace, Thy Head inclining, 

The throbbing Brow and labouring Breast grow still. 

This hymn was written in 1868 by Mrs. Eliza 
Sibbald Alderson, sister to the late Dr. Dykes. In 
a letter received from a relative of Mrs. Alderson’s, 
I learn that the hymn was written at her brother’s 
request, who used to affirm that his sister had 
unusual powers as a hymnist. After it was written 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 91 


Mrs. Alderson handed a copy of the hymn to 
Dr. Dykes, who composed for it the well-known 
tune “ Commendatio.” 

In the original this hymn consists of six verses, 
but many collections omit the following stanzas :— 


O love! o’er mortal agony victorious, 

Now is Thy triumph! now that Cross shall shine 
To earth’s remotest age revered and glorious, 

Of suffering’s deepest mystery the sign. 


The present, past, and future here are blending, 
Moment supreme in this world’s history, 

Mid darkness, opening graves, and mountains rending, 
New light is dawning on humanity. 


This is the best known of all Mrs. Alderson’s 
hymns, and appears in a great number of collec- 
tions. There are, however, several others of her 
hymns for which Dr. Dykes wrote special tunes, 
the most popular being that for “ Almsgiving,” 
“Lord of Glory, who hast bought us.” 

Mrs. Alderson’s husband was for many years 
chaplain to the West Riding House of Correction 
in Wakefield, and it was here that the greater 
number of Mrs. Alderson’s hymns were written. 

The most popular hymn in the English language, 
according to a general consensus of opinions, is 
“ Rock of ages, cleft for me,” which is essentially 
a hymn for Passiontide. It was written, as all 


92 HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


the world knows, by the Rev. Augustus Montague 
Toplady, sometime curate-in-charge of the parish 
of Blagdon, on the Mendips, about eight miles 
from Wells. In an interesting letter published 
some time ago in the Zzmes, Sir William Henry 
Wills says: “Toplady was one day overtaken by 
a heavy thunderstorm in Burrington Coombe, on 
the edge of my property (Blagdon), a rocky glen 
running up into the heart of the Mendip range, 
and there, taking shelter between two massive 
pillars of our native limestone, he penned the 
hymn :— 

Rock of ages, cleft for me, 

Let me hide myself in Thee. 


Whether this story has a greater claim to 
credence than many others which naturally grow 
around world-known compositions, I cannot say, 
but I fear that it must be relegated to the same 
category as the story sometimes told regarding the 
sea-bird and “Jesu, Lover of my soul.” So far as the 
history of its composition can be traced, it appears 
to have been written spontaneously, sent to the 
Gospel Magazine, where it first appeared in 1775, 
and afterwards republished in Toplady’s collection 
of hymns. It was written only three years before 
the author’s early death, which occurred on August 


II, 1778. 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 93 


“Rock of Ages” was the hymn which the late 
Prince Consort asked to be sung to him a few 
hours before his death, and in his very interesting 
little volume entitled Hymmns that have Helped, Mr. 
W. T. Stead tells us that “when the London went 
down in the Bay of Biscay, January 11, 1866, the 
last thing which the last man who left the ship 
heard as the boat pushed off from the doomed 
vessel was the voices of the passengers singing 
“Rock of Ages.” 

A missionary who returned from India the other 
day tells rather an amusing incident in connection 
with “ Rock of Ages.” He complained of the slow 
progress made in India in converting the natives 
on account of the difficulty of explaining the 
teachings of Christianity so that the ignorant 
people could understand them. Some of the most 
beautiful passages in the Bible, for instance, are 
destroyed by translation. He attempted once to 
have the hymn, 

Rock of ages, cleft for me, 

Let me hide myself in Thee, 
translated into the native’ dialect, so that the 
natives might appreciate its beauty. The work 
was entrusted to a young Hindu Bible student 
who had the reputation of being something of a 
poet. The next day he brought his translation 


94 HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


for approval, and his rendering, as translated back 
into English, read like this :— 


Very old stone, split for my benefit, 
Let me absent myself under one of your fragments. 


It is not difficult to believe, after this, that many 
of the natives see little that is beautiful in our 
most cherished hymns and poems. 

William Cowper's most famous and widely- 
known hymn is said to be the one he wrote for 
Passiontide :-— 


There is a fountain filled with blood 
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins ; 

And sinners plunged beneath its flood 
Lose all their guilty stains. 


This hymn was written about the year 1770, 
and was based on the text which usually heads 
the composition in the majority of our hymnals: 
“In that day there shall be a fountain opened to 
the house of David and to the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” It was 
one of the first hymns he wrote after his first 
attack of temporary madness, and as this period 
of the poet’s life always seems to have a fascina- 
tion for his admirers, I quote a passage taken from 
an article published in the orth American Review 
for January, 1834, which appears to me to give 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 95 


the best account of this distressing incident yet 
published. My readers are probably well aware 
that Cowper was of a painfully nervous and shy 
temperament, his extreme sensitiveness probably 
accounting in no small measure for his malady. 
He had been promised a post as Clerk of the 
Journal to the House of Lords, and was happy 
in the contemplation of his approaching appoint- 
ment, when, to his utter dismay, he learned that it 
would be necessary to undergo a public examin- 
ation before the House before he entered upon his 
duties. a 

“As the time drew nigh, his agony became 
more and more intense; he hoped and believed 
that madness would come to relieve him; he 
attempted also to make up his mind to commit 
suicide, though his conscience bore stern testi- 
mony against it; he could not by any argument 
persuade himself that it was right, but this 
desperation prevailed, and he procured from an 
apothecary the means of self-destruction. On the 
day before his public appearance was to be made, 
he happened to notice a letter in the newspaper, 
which to his disordered mind seemed like a malig- 
nant libel on himself. He immediately threw 
down the paper and rushed into the fields, deter- 
mined to die in a ditch, but the thought struck 


96 HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


him that he might escape from the country. With 
the same violence he proceeded to make hasty 
preparations for his flight ; but while he was 
engaged in packing his portmanteau his mind 
changed, and he threw himself into a coach, 
ordering the man to drive to the Tower wharf, 
intending to throw himself into the river, and not 
reflecting that it would be impossible to accom- 
plish his purpose in that public spot. On ap- 
proaching the water, he found a porter seated 
upon some goods: he then returned to the coach 
and was conveyed to his lodgings at the Temple. 
On the way he attempted to drink the laudanum, 
but as often as he raised it, a convulsive agitation 
of his frame prevented its reaching his lips ; and 
thus, regretting the loss of the opportunity, but 
- unable to avail himself of it, he arrived, half dead 
with anguish, at his apartment. He then shut 
the doors and threw himself upon the bed with 
the laudanum near him, trying to lash himself up 
to the deed ; but a voice within seemed constantly 
to forbid it, and as often as he extended his hand 
to the poison, his fingers were contracted and held 
back by spasms. 

“ At this time some one of the inmates of the 
place came in, but he concealed his agitation, and 
as soon as he was left alone, a change came over 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 97 


him, and so detestable did the deed appear, that 
he threw away the laudanum and dashed the vial 
to pieces. The rest of the day was spent in heavy 
insensibility, and at night he slept as usual; but 
on waking at three in the morning, he took his 
penknife and lay with his weight upon it, the 
point towards his heart. It was broken and would 
not penetrate. At day break he arose, and pass- 
ing a strong garter round his neck, fastened it to 
the frame of his bed: this gave way with his 
weight, but on securing it to the door, he was 
more successful, and remained suspended till he 
had lost all consciousness of existence. After a 
time the garter broke and he fell to the floor, so 
that his life was saved ; but the conflict had been 
greater than his reason could endure. He felt for 
himself a contempt not to be expressed or ima- 
gined ; whenever he went into the street, it seemed 
as if every eye flashed upon him with indignation 
and scorn ; he felt as if he had offended God so 
deeply that his guilt could never be forgiven, and 
his whole heart was filled with tumultuous pangs 
of despair. Madness was not far off, or rather 
madness was already come.” 

It was after this terrible experience, and when 
he had somewhat recovered, that he turned his 
attention to the Olney Hymns. For eight years 

F.H. 7 


98 HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


he was well, mentally and physically, and during 
that period a great deal of his religious verse was 
written. Then his mind gave way once more and 
he made another attempt to commit suicide. He 
was, however, again frustrated, this time by the 
action of his coachman who had received orders 
to drive to the river. The man purposely lost his 
way and brought the poet back to his home again. 
His reason once more returned, and in one of 
those fits of contrition which appear to have 
swiftly followed on every period of madness, he 
wrote that hymn which has since been a comfort 
to countless thousands :— 


God moves in a mysterious way, 
His wonders to perform ; 

He plants His footsteps in the sea, 
And rides upon the storm. 


To an American writer we are indebted for one 
of the most beautiful hymns in the language and 
one which is particularly suited to Passiontide. I 
refer to :— 


My faith looks up to Thee, 
Thou Lamb of Calvary, 
Saviour Divine ; 
Now hear me while I pray 3 
Take all my guilt away ; 
O let me from this day 
Be wholly Thine. 


oO Osas 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 99 


This hymn was written by the greatest of all 
American hymnists, the late Dr. Ray Palmer. 
Although Dr. Palmer has been dead but a few 
years this composition of his has been a general 
favourite among all denominations for close upon 
three-quarters of a century. From this it may 
be inferred that the author wrote it at a very early 
age. This is so ; in fact it was the first hymn Dr. 
Palmer ever composed, and it is as strange as it is 
true that this initial performance in hymnody 
should be by far his most successful. Dr. Palmer 
is the author of many other hymns, not one of 
which has attained, in this country at least, to the 
popularity enjoyed by the composition at present 
under consideration. 

“ My faith looks up to Thee” was written a few 
months after the author had graduated at Yale 
College, New Haven, and while he was acting as 
tutor in a school in New York. Though Dr. 
Palmer has left no record to the effect, I should be 
inclined to believe that he was in low spirits at 
the time, possibly feeling somewhat home sick 
owing to his being away from relations and 
friends. It is a well-known fact that he was 
greatly affected when composing the hymn, and 
he is said to have written the concluding verse 
with the deepest emotion and in tears. 


100 HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


Very soon after it was written the hymn was 
published in a little volume of Spiritual Songs, 
and was there set to a melody by the late Lowell 
Mason, called “ Olivet,” a tune to which it has ever 
since been sung both here and in America. 

“ My faith looks up to Thee” is unique in many 
respects. Thoughit was the first hymn the author 
ever wrote it became the most popular; it was 
written, practically, by a boy ; it was set to music 
the year of its birth and has been sung to the 
same melody ever since ; and, lastly, it was a 
popular hymn for nearly sixty years during the 
author’s lifetime. Among American hymns, there- 
fore, none surely has a more interesting record 
than “ My faith looks up to Thee.” 

A hymn for Passiontide, which was written by 
Isaac Watts, but which is not now found in many 
collections, is :— 


Not all the blood of beasts 
On Jewish altars slain 

Could give the guilty conscience peace, 
Or wash away our stain. 


There is a general impression to the effect that 
this hymn was written by Dr. Watts after a visit 
paid to Smithfield market. There he had stood 
for a few moments contemplating the newly-slain 
animals, and the incident soon suggested to the 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 101 


poet a subject for a hymn. Continuing his stroll 
round the market he thought out the first draft 
of “Not all the blood of beasts.” Though the 
composition has always been a favourite with 
nonconformists it is found in comparatively few 
hymnals of the Church of England. It is some- 
what strange that Watts, who had a remarkably 
fine ear for metre and rhythm should, as shown in 
the following verse, have allowed himself to pass 
so clumsy a rhyme :— 


My faith would lay her hand 
On that meek head of Thine, 

While as a penitent I stand, 
And here confess my sin. 


This is almost as bad, though not quite, as 
Charles Wesley in his “ Forth in Thy Name, O 
Lord, I go,” the second verse of which, as all 
those who use the Methodist hymnal are probably 
aware, has a very awkward line of a different 
nature :— 


The task Thy wisdom hath assigned 
O let me cheerfully fulfil, 

In all my works Thy presence find, 
And prove Thy acceptable will. 


In many hymnals the verse has been changed 
Lo: 


102 HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


The task Thy wisdom hath assigned 
O let me cheerfully fulfil ; 

In all Thy works Thy presence find, 
And prove Thy good and perfect will. 


This is a considerable improvement, but who is 
answerable for the alteration I am unable to say. 

The concluding verse of “ Not all the blood of 
beasts ” is rather a curious one :-— 


Believing, we rejoice 
To feel the curse remove ; 

We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice, 
And trust His bleeding love. 


Altogether the hymn is one which suits the 
eighteenth century better than the twentieth. 
Somehow it misses the delicacy and refinement 
which is so characteristic of the best of Watts’ 
hymns. It cannot, for instance, be compared with 
his tender and beautiful :— 


There is a land of pure delight, 
Where saints immortal reign, 

Infinite day excludes the night, 
And pleasures banish pain. 


In connection with this hymn, which is not 
of course one for Passiontide, it is related that it 
was written by Watts before he had reached his 
twenty-first birthday, and that the theme was 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 103 


suggested by the beautiful view of Southampton 
Water as seen from the Isle of Wight. There is 
strong reason to believe that this is correct, for if 
we study the hymn we shall find that there are 
many expressions contained in it which substantiate 
the theory—* Death like a narrow sea,” “Sweet 
fields beyond the swelling flood Stand dressed in 
living green,” etc. 

Over 500 hymns by Isaac Watts are said to be 
in common use throughout the English-speaking 
world, but the estimate is probably exaggerated. 
Half that number would certainly be nearer the 
mark, and even this is remarkable when we con- 
sider that the average hymnal contains but 500 
contributions. Like his contemporary hymnists 
Watts wrote much that was excellent but also 
much that was inferior, and it is only the winnow- 
ing of years which brings all the wheat to the 
surface. As generation follows generation the 
number of his hymns to be found in our collec- 
tions may lessen until perhaps only thirty or forty 
remain, but these will stand the test of all times 
and be sung as long as Christianity endures— 
surely a splendid monument to the memory of 
any man. 

A hymn which has been described as the most 
pathetic of the Middle Ages is the Stabat Mater 


104 HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


Dolorosa, rendered familiar to us by the transla- 
tion :— 


At the Cross her station keeping 

Stood the mournful Mother weeping, 
Where He hung, the dying Lord ; 

For her soul of joy bereavéd, 

Bow’d with anguish, deeply grievéd, 
Felt the sharp and piercing sword. 


This hymn has been ascribed to at least six 
authors, and, though no really satisfactory conclu- 
sion has ever been come to, it is generally con- 
sidered to be the work of either Pope Innocent III 
or Jacobus de Benedictus. If the opinion of a 
dozen hymnologists were taken it would probably 
be found that the majority were in favour of the 
latter being the real author. But after so many 
centuries and on such slender testimony obtain- 
able it is impossible to decide with absolute cer- 
tainty, and like many another hymn the Stabat 
Mater will have to be ascribed, if safety be de- 
sired, to that mysterious individual—“ an anony- 
mous writer.” 

Of the translations of the hymn there have-been 
many, the most popular being that by Edward 
Caswall which appeared in 1867. This version 
has appeared in more hymnals than all the other 
translations put together, though in some instances 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 105 


in an altered form. In Protestant collections, of 
course, the verses having special reference to the 
Virgin Mary have been omitted. 

A very interesting feature connected with the 
Stabat Mater is the numerous occasions on which 
it has been set to music by various famous com- 
posers. Palestrina, Haydn and Rossini are only a 
few of the celebrated musicians who have ex- 
pended on the Stabat Mater their finest efforts of 
musical composition. Who does not know the 
melody to Cujus Animam taken from the latter’s 
work? The majority of us learned it during the 
first year of our musical education! Last of all 
the great Bohemian composer Dvorak has given 
us in the Stabat Mater some of his loveliest music. 
Of all the poems which have come to us from the 
Latin none has been so frequently set to music as 
the Stabat Mater. 

There are three melodies to which “ At the 
Cross her station keeping ” is usually sung, and 
they are all, curiously enough, entitled “Stabat 
Mater” which at times occasions some confusion. 
Perhaps the setting most often sung is the one by 
Dr. Dykes. The remaining tunes consist of an 
ancient plain song and a modern French melody, 
both of which suit the mournful and tender words 
very well, 


106 HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


Another great hymn which, though not perhaps 
originally written for Passiontide, has come to be 
generally used for the season commemorative of the 
death of our Lord, is “My God, I love Thee; not 
because,” a translation of “O Deus ego amo Te,” 
usually ascribed to St. Francis Xavier. That it 
was written by the great Roman Catholic mis- 
sionary has never conclusively been proved, but the 
probability is that it was. It is a hymn which has 
been known and loved by many countries for many 
generations, and the translations are numerous. In 
Great Britain that made by Edward Caswall has 
gained the greatest amount of favour, and is to be 
found in the greatest number of English hymnals. 

Exception has been taken by several editors to 
the first verse of Mr. Caswall’s translation, and for 
this reason have omitted it from their collections. 
The verse, as my readers are probably aware, sets 
forth the terrible punishment meted out to those 
who do not love God :— 


My God, I love Thee; not because 
I hope for Heaven thereby, 

-Nor yet because who love Thee not 
Must burn eternally. 


In some collections this verse has been slightly 
altered, the last two lines reading :— 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 107 


Nor yet because who love Thee not 
Are lost eternally. 


Perhaps the difficulty might be got over by chang- 
ing the words “lost” or “burn” to “mourn” :— 


My God I love Thee ; not because 
I hope for Heaven thereby, 

Nor yet because who love Thee not 
Must mourn eternally. 


This is taking a liberty with a hymn for which 
I have not the excuse of being a hymnist to offer, 
but it seems a pity that owing to a word unfor- 
tunately chosen a composition so beautiful should 
be omitted from any collection. 

That very well-known Passiontide hymn, “Sweet 
the moments, rich in blessing,” is the combined 
work of two hymnists, James Allen and the Rev. 
and Hon. Walter Shirley, grandson of Earl 
Ferrers. It was first published in the Kendal 
Hymn Book, but in a form very different from 
that now found in most modern collections. Had 
not Mr. Shirley taken it in hand and recast it, 
there is more than a possibility that to-day the 
composition would have been forgotten. From 
half a dozen somewhat commonplace verses he 
succeeded in producing what has become one of 
the most prized hymns in the language :— 


108 HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


Sweet the moments, rich in blessing, 
Which before the Cross I spend, 
Life, and health, and peace possessing 

From the sinner’s dying Friend. 


James Allen must have been a somewhat re- 
markable man. After taking his degree at Oxford 
he appears to have become a lay reader of the 
Church of England, but owing to his peculiar 
temperament did not get on very happily with the 
clergymen with whom his work brought him in 
contact. He joined various meteoric sects, with 
none of which, however, he remained for any length 
of time, and eventually built a chapel of his own, 
where he conducted service according to his own 
notions. He was the author of several original 
hymns, and was the friend of the celebrated Lady 
Huntingdon. He assisted in the compilation of 
the Kendal Hymn Book, and after leading an 
uneventful life, died at Gayle, in 1804, at the age 
of seventy. 

James Allen’s fellow-hymnist, Walter Shirley, 
his senior by nine years, was an Irish rector, and 
a poet of some ability. He was a far better 
hymnist than Allen, being the author of some 
really fine religious verse, his Good Friday hymn, 
“Flow fast, my tears, the cause is great,” being 
especially beautiful. It is doubtful, taking all things 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 109 


into consideration, whether Allen’s name would be 
remembered to-day had not “ Sweet the moments, 
rich in blessing” been so successfully recast. 
Shirley died April 7, 1786, eighteen years before 
his staunch friend James Allen. 

If the tenderest hymn John Ellerton ever wrote 
be his one for evening service, “Saviour, again to 
Thy dear name we raise,” certainly his grandest 
and most solemn is the one for Passiontide :— 


Throned upon the awful Tree, 
King of grief, I watch with Thee; 
Darkness veils Thine anguish’d face, 
None its lines of woe can trace, 
None can tell what pangs unknown 
Hold Thee silent and alone. 


This hymn was written in 1875 at the request of 
Sir Henry Baker for the new edition of his hymnal, 
and was there set to music by the Rev. Sir F. A. 
G. Ouseley. This tune, appropriately named 
“ Gethsemane ” (not to be confounded with Monk’s 
tune of the same name, and usually sung to Mont- 
gomery’s “Go to dark Gethsemane”), was one of 
the most successful of all Gore Ouseley’s hymn 
tunes, the peculiar manner in which the melody to 
each line rises half a tone rendering the hymn 
doubly solemn and impressive. 

Canon Ellerton based his hymn on the text, 


IIo HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


“ My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” 
The original manuscript of this very fine composi- 
tion has been preserved, and is now in the posses- 
sion of the late hymnist’s son, the Rev. Frank 
Ellerton. 

I understand that the hymn was originally 
written in three stanzas, the following verse being 
subsequently added before publication in Canon 
Ellerton’s collection :— 


Lord, should fear and anguish roll 
Darkly o’er my sinful soul, 

Thou, who once wast thus bereft 
That Thine own might ne’er be left, 
Teach me by that bitter cry 

In the gloom to know Thee nigh. 


In Sir Henry Baker’s hymnal this composition 
is placed next to the Stabat Mater, “ At the Cross 
her station keeping,” and perhaps no higher praise 
could be given to a hymn than to say it is in every 
way worthy of its companion. Indeed it would be 


difficult to say which of the two hymns is the. 


finer. 

Of the many hymns which Dean Milman wrote, 
and which were published in 1827, all have stood 
the test of time, and are to-day in common use 
throughout the English-speaking world. Probably 
the only other writer of which the same can be 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION III 


said is his friend and fellow-hymnist, Reginald 
Heber. Dean Milman’s hymns include two for 
Lent, two funeral hymns, two for Advent, and one 
each for Easter, “ Those at sea,” and Passiontide 
This last is a remarkably beautiful hymn, very 
original as to construction, and containing much 
fine thought finely expressed. It may not be very 
well known to some of my readers, and I therefore 
quote the first and last verses :— 


Bound upon the accurséd Tree, 
Faint and bleeding, who is He? 

By the eyes so pale and dim, 
Streaming blood and writhing limb ; 
By the flesh with scourges torn ; 
By the crown of twisted thorn ; 

By the side so deeply pierced ; 

By the baffled, burning thirst ; 

By the drooping, death-dewed brow: 
Son of Man! ’tis Thou! ’tis Thou! _ 


Bound upon the accurséd Tree, 

Dread and awful, who is He? 

By the prayer for them that slew— 
“Lord ! they know not what they do!” 
By the spoiled and empty grave; 

By the souls He died to save ; 

By the conquest He hath won ; 

By the saints before His throne ; 

By the rainbow round His brow: 

Son of God! ’tis Thou! ’tis Thou! 


112 HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


This composition, which in the original consists 
of four stanzas of ten lines each, was written at 
Heber’s request, and is to be found in the Bishop’s 
book of manuscript hymns now located in the 
British Museum. 

As is well known, Bishop Heber thought more 
highly of Milman’s hymns than he did of those of 
any other writer who lived during his own times. 
From a letter written to me some years ago by 
Dean Milman’s son I quote the following interest- 
ing paragraphs :— 

“With regard to my father’s manuscript hymns,” 
writes Mr. Arthur Milman, “I have never even 
seen one, and I doubt very much whether they can 
have survived. I have in my possession several 
letters written to my father by Heber, and as they 
may possibly interest your readers I send you one 
or two extracts. Under date of May 11, 1821, 
which would be a couple of years before his 
appointment to the see of Calcutta, Heber writes 
to my father :— 

“«T rejoice to hear so good an account of the 
progress which your saint (the Martyr of Antioch) 
is making towards her crown, and I feel really 
grateful for the kindness which enables you while 
so occupied to recollect my hymn-book. I have 
during the last month received some assistance 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 113 


from 


, which would once have pleased me 
much, but, alas! your Advent, Good Friday, and 
Palm Sunday hymns have spoilt me for all other 
attempts of the sort.’ 

“ Again, December 28, 1821 , Heber writes : ‘ You 
have indeed sent me a most powerful reinforce- 
ment to my projected hymn-book. A few more 
such and I shall neither need nor wait for the aid 
of Scottand Southey. Most sincerely, I have not 
seen any hymns of the kind which more com- 
pletely correspond to my ideas of what such com- 
positions ought to be, or to the plan, the outline of 
which it has been my wish to fill up.’” 

It is somewhat sad to recollect that this collec- 
tion of hymns in which Heber took such intense 
interest was not published until after his death, and 
then possibly not in the form in which he intended 
it to appear. , 

Between the hymns of Heber and Milman a 
good deal of similarity exists, the predominating 
features in the compositions of both writers being 
lyric fire and wealth of colouring. 

To Thomas Kelly, a most voluminous writer, 
whose hymnal compositions are said to approach 
a thousand in number, we owe that very fine and 
original Passion hymn :— 


F.H. 8 


114 HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


We sing the praise of Him who died, 
Of Him who died upon the Cross ; 
The sinners Hope let men deride, 
For this we count the world but loss. 


This hymn was first published in 1815, and 
quickly found its way into the collections of every 
denomination. In Sir Henry Baker’s hymnal the 
following verse has been added :— 


To Christ, who won for sinners grace 
By bitter grief and anguish sore, 
Be praise from all the ransom’d race 

For ever and for evermore. 


Thomas Kelly, the son of an Irish judge, was 
born in Dublin in 1769. It had been his intention 
to follow in the footsteps of his father, but on 
leaving Trinity College he altered his mind and 
took Holy Orders. Owing, however, to constant 
friction with the Primate of Ireland he left the 
Established Church, and for many years preached 
in unconsecrated buildings. He was a man pos- 
sessed of great magnetic powers, and his fine 
orations attracted considerable crowds. His hymns 
were first sung by his own congregation, but after 
publication were eagerly seized upon by compilers 
of every class of hymnal. The requests for the 
use of his compositions invariably met with a 
ready and cheerful response. 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 115 


Singularly genial and kindly in disposition, Mr. 
Kelly was greatly beloved by the poor of Dublin, 
who could always count on his assistance when 
times were more than ordinarily bad. It is told in 
the Irish capital how on one occasion, when a 
worthy couple were passing through a period of 
exceptional hardship and privation, the husband 
endeavoured to cheer his disconsolate wife with the 
remark: “Hould up, Bridget, bedad, there’s always 
Misther Kelly to pull us out of the bog afther we’ve 
sunk for thelast time.” Thissomewhat paradoxical 
remark is eminently characteristic of the faith 
which the poor had in Mr. Kelly; no deserving 
case ever appealed to him in vain, and his memory 
is still most affectionately cherished in the capital 
of his “ most distresthful country.” 

Like Archbishop Maclagan, Mr. Kelly was also 
a composer of considerable ability, and many of 
his hymns were first set to music by the author 
himself. Soon after the publication of his collec- 
tion of hymns in 1815 he issued a companion 
volume containing tunes suited to every kind of 
metre to be found in his hymnal. All these tunes 
he composed himself, and among them are many 
of great beauty and originality. Mr. Kelly died 
in Dublin in 1854 at the advanced age of eighty- 
five, 


a tae fe Sd 


116 HYMNS ON THE PASSION 


The late Rev. Frederick William Harris, for many 
years vicar of Medmenham, was the author of one 
hymn so excellent as to be worthy a place in every 
collection. It was written specially for Passiontide, 
and appeared first, I believe, in a magazine, after 
which it was inserted in Prebendary Thring’s col- 
lection. Here is the opening verse :— 


“Tt is finished—It is finished!” all the untold agony, 
When with death and hell He wrestled all alone upon the 


Tree ; 

All alone—nor man nor angel near to comfort and 
sustain, 

Fen the cry of mortal anguish, “Eli! Eli”! spent in 
vain. 


In a note on this hymn Prebendary Thring 
says: “The first line of each verse as originally 
written began with the Greek word TereXeorat, of 
which ‘ It is finished ’ is the translation.” 

The final verse to this hymn differs somewhat 
from the rest, containing as it does an extra line, 
which renders necessary a change in the musical 
setting. It is very fine, however, and as the hymn 
is not so well known as it should be I quote this 


stanza :— 


“Tt is finished—It is finished!” all by heaven decreed of 
old, 
In the sacred volume written, or by ancient seer foretold : 


HYMNS ON THE PASSION 117 


Wrath appeased, transgression finished, God and man 
again at one; 

Comes the night when no man worketh: let it come, the 
work is done ; 

Hark, through heaven the word is echoed: “It is 
finished "—“ It is done.” 


So far as I have been able to discover, Mr. Harris 
was the author of no other hymns, certainly none 
that were ever published. So evidently did he 
possess the true instinct necessary to the produc- 
tion of successful hymns that it is more than a 
pity that our hymnals have received no further 
contributions from his pen. Mr. Harris died in 
1872 at the comparatively early age of fifty-eight. 

I cannot conclude this chapter without referring 
to the many excellent metrical litanies written by 
the late Mr. Thomas Benson Pollock, for some 
years rector of Pluckley in Kent. His Litany on 
the Seven Last Words from the Cross, which is so 
frequently sung at the three hours’ service on Good 
Fridays, is perhaps his best known. It was 
first published, together with several others, in 1870, 
in a small volume, and subsequently appeared in 
Hymns Ancient and Modern. To this collection Mr. 
Pollock also contributed a couple of hymns, “We 
are soldiers of Christ, Who is mighty to save” and 
“We have not known Thee as we ought,” neither 


HYMNS ON THE 
of which is very well known, even by tt 
use this hymnal. It is by his litanies t 
Pollock will be longest remembered. He 
1896. eee, 


VI 


Easter bymns 


HE Resurrection was a favourite subject with 
the majority of ancient hymnists, and as a 
consequence a large proportion of those hymns 
which we are accustomed to sing on Easter Day 
have come to us from the Latin. Foremost 
among these is “Jesus Christ is risen to-day,” a 
hymn the authorship of which is shrouded in 
mystery. It has, however, been conclusively 
proved to be a composition of the fourteenth cen- 
tury. Curiously enough the name of the trans- 
lator is also unknown. 

This hymn, very much as we sing it to-day, first 
appeared in a book entitled Lyra Davidica, pub- 
lished in 1708, the first verse reading :— 

Jesus Christ is risen to-day, 
Halle-Halle-lujah. 

Our triumphant Holy-day ; 

Who so lately on the Cross, 


Suffer’d to redeem our loss. 
119 


120 EASTER HYMNS 


No name of author was appended, and little 
inquiry, if any, appears to have been made as to 
who it was who had contributed to our national 
hymnary so fine a translation of the Latin hymn. 
Three stanzas only were given, the fourth, the 
Doxology, as published in some hymnals, being 
afterwards written by Charles Wesley. As this 
Doxology may not be in the hymnals used by 
some of my readers, I give it :— 
Sing we to our God above 
Hallelujah ! 
Praise eternal as His love; 
Hallelujah ! 
Praise Him, all ye heavenly host; 
Hallelujah ! 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; 
Hallelujah ! 

The really magnificent melody with which this 
hymn will always be associated, rendering it a 
veritable “triumphant song,” appeared in con- 
junction with the hymn in Lyra Davidica. It 
seems quite in keeping with the mystery sur- 
rounding the authorship of hymn and translation 
that the music should also be by an unknown 
composer. And so it is. No name was attached 
to the setting, and though various composers have 
been credited with its authorship, it has never 
been conclusively proved who was the real com- 


MRS, 


THE REV. HORATIUS BONAR, D.D. 


Photo by Mogat, Edinburgh. 


CECIL FRANCES ALEXANDER. 


Photo by Elliott & Fry. 


* 


> 
i 


EASTER HYMNS a 


poser. The mystery surrounding the authors of 
hymn, translation, and music, will probably never 
be unravelled in this world. 

Another hymn which has come to us from the 
Latin, and one of which nothing is known regard- 
ing authorship, is “ The strife is o’er, the battle 
done.” It is said to have been written during 
the twelfth century, but even this information is 
scarcely to be relied upon. Dr. Neale and Dr. 
Bonar have both made translations, but their 
versions have long since been cast into obscurity 
by Mr Francis Pott’s spirited rendering :— 

The strife is o’er, the battle done! 
The victory of life is won! 


The song of triumph has begun! 
Alleluia ! 


Very soon after Mr. Pott published his transla- 
tion in 1861, it was included in a great number 
of hymnals, usually in an altered condition. In 
one popular collection the only verse given as 
the translator wrote it is the last. In many 
hymnals the following verse is omitted :— 

He closed the yawning gates of hell ; 
The bars from heaven’s high portals fell, 


Let hymns of praise His triumph tell ! 
Alleluia ! 


The melody called “Victory,” to which this 


122 EASTER HYMNS 


hymn has for many years been sung, and which 
commences, as my readers will recollect, with a 
triumphant trio of alleluias, is from one of Pales- 
trina’s oratorios. 

Mr. Francis Pott, besides being a translator, is 
also known as a writer of original hymns. His 
“Angel voices ever singing,” and “ Lift up your 
heads, eternal gates,” are to be found in many 
hymnals. In a characteristic little note received 
from Mr. Pott some time ago, I was informed that 
he could tell me nothing about his hymns, from 
the simple fact that there was nothing interesting 
to tell. 

One of the finest and most beautiful original 
Easter hymns we possess is :— 


\ 
_ Christ is risen! Christ is risen ! 


He hath burst His bonds in twain, 


by the late Rev. Archer Gurney. This hymn was 
first published in a little volume of original and 
collected hymns, entitled A Book of Praise, com- 
piled by Mr. Gurney in 1860. The compiler’s 
own copy, which he used when chaplain of the 
Court Church, Paris, is beside me as I write, 
having been sent to me by a relative of the late 
hymnist. It is marked “Altar,” and is a very 
small volume bound in cloth. The book contains 


EASTER HYMNS 123 


281 pieces, of which Mr. Gurney composed no 
fewer than 147. With the exception of “ Christ is 
risen!” however, no hymns by Mr. Gurney have 
come into common use, though many he wrote 
call for the serious attention of hymnal editors. 

“ Christ is risen!” appears in the author’s collec- 
tion in a somewhat different form from that in 
many hymnals. Indeed, the frequency with which 
Mr. Gurney’s fine hymn has been altered, some- 
times with his leave, but more often without, was a 
source of considerable distress to the author. On 
more than one occasion he remarked that if an 
editor thought “Christ is risen!” a sufficiently 
good hymn to insert in his collection, he wished he 
would print it as written, or leave it alone alto- 
gether. The refrain in this hymn, which has been 
more often altered than any other part of the 
composition, appears in A Book of Praise in the 
following form :— 

Christ is risen! Christ is risen ! 
He hath burst His bonds in twain: 


Christ is risen! Christ is risen! 
Cry of gladness, soar again. 


This has been altered in the majority of hymnals 
to :-— 


Christ is risen! Christ is risen! 
He hath burst His bonds in twain: 


124 EASTER HYMNS 


Christ is risen! Christ is risen! 
Alleluia! swell the strain. 


The melody, called “Resurrexit,” which was 
specially written to the words of Mr. Gurney’s 
hymn, is by the late Sir Arthur Sullivan, and is 
one of the finest tunes in our hymn books, It 
was written about the year 1874. 

Mr. Archer Gurney, besides being a hymnist 
was also a very clever musician, and many of his 
hymns were first set to music by himself. Mrs. 
Dorothy Gurney, the authoress of “O perfect love, 
all human thought transcending,” is the daughter- 
in-law of the late Mr. Archer Gurney. 

“Jesus lives! no longer now Can thy terrors, 
death, appal us” is the late Miss Frances E. Cox’s 
translation of the German hymn by C., F. Gellert. 
It is generally regarded by hymnologists to be 
the finest of the many fine hymns by this writer, 
and is to be found in nearly all German hymnals 
published during the last hundred years. In 
Germany, where it is as great a favourite at 
Easter services as in this country, it is also very 
often sung at funerals. 

Since Miss Cox published her excellent transla- 
tion of this hymn in 1840 it has become very 
popular in Great Britain and all English-speak- 
ing countries, few hymnals published during the 


EASTER HYMNS 125 


last half century omitting it. In many collec- 
tions, however, the opening lines have been 
altered to :— 


Jesus lives! thy terrors now 
Can, O death, no more appal us, 


probably due to the fact that the first line is apt 
to convey a wrong impression unless due regard 
be paid to punctuation. 

Though several translations of other hymns by 
Gellert have been made, it cannot be said that 
any one of them has gained a popularity in this 
country equal to that enjoyed by “Jesus lives!” 
Christian Fiirchtegott Gellert died at Leipzig in 
1769 at the age of forty-four. - 

From the Greek we get a very beautiful Easter 
hymn, which has been translated by John Mason 
Neale :— 


Come, ye faithful, raise the strain 
Of triumphant gladness. 


This hymn is by St. John of Damascus, and was 
written some time during the latter half of the 
eighth century. Since Dr. Neale’s translation ap- 
peared in 1862 this hymn has taken its place 
among those most frequently sung at Easter. In 
his Hymns of the Eastern Church, where the 
translation first appeared, it is given in four 


‘a6 EASTER HYMNS recs: 


stanzas, but the following verse is usually omitted — 
in most hymnals :— 


Neither might the gates of death, 
Nor the tomb’s dark portal, 
Nor the watchers, nor the seal, e: 
Hold Thee as a mortal: 
But to-day amidst the Twelve 
Thou didst stand, bestowing 
That Thy peace which evermore 
Passeth human knowing. 


In one hymnal the following verse is sub- 
stituted :— 
Alleluia now we cry 
fo our King Immortal, 
- Who triumphant burst the bars 
Of the tomb’s dark portal ; 
Alleluia, with the Son 
God the Father praising ; 
Alleluia yet again 
To the Spirit raising. 


Dr. Neale was the first to open up to us the 
beauties of Oriental hymnody. Before his trans- 
lations began to find their way into our hymnals 
the lyrics of the Eastern Church were practically 
unknown. In the Preface to his first volume of 
Greek translations the author says: “It is a most 
remarkable fact, and one which shows how very 
little interest has been hitherto felt in the Eastern 


I MISS CATHERINE WINKWORTH. 
Photo by Fisher, Cliftoi. 


2 MR. JAMES MONTGOMERY. 3 MRS. EMILY HUNTINGTON MILLER. 
From an Engraving. From a Photo. 
4 MR. B. S. INGEMANN. 5 MR. HENRY KIRKE WHITE, 
From a Photo. From the Painting by T. Barber, Esqg., Nottingham. 


6 THE REV. ARCHER T. GURNEY. 
Photo by Lock & Whitfield. 


EASTER HYMNS _ 127 


Church, that they are literally the only English 
versions of any part of the treasures of Oriental 
hymnology.” This wasa fact. Since Dr. Neale’s 
work appeared, however, other writers have essayed 
to follow in his footsteps, and have given us 
further translations from the Greek, but the 
majority of them compare very poorly with Mr. 
Neale’s excellent versions. 

Another hymn which has come to us from 
Germany is “Christ, the Lord, is risen again,” 
by Michael Weisse. Though translations of this 
hymn were published in England as early as 1750 
it was not until Miss Catherine Winkworth issued 
her Lyra Germanica in 1858 that the hymn 
began to make its way into English collections. 
It has now become one of the most popular of 
all Easter hymns and is to be met with in most 
modern hymnals. 

Michael Weisse was a Silesian, being born at 
Neisse about the year 1480. For many years 
he lived in a monastery in Breslau, where a con- 
siderable number of his hymns were written. He 
ultimately left Breslau and joined the Bohemian 
Brethren at Landskron. Here he spent the re- 
mainder of his life preaching and writing hymns. 
He died in 1540. 

“Christ, the Lord, is risen again” is the only 


128 EASTER HYMNS 


hymn by Weisse which can be said to have 
gained any great popularity in this country. 

“ Alleluia, alleluia, Hearts to heaven and voices 
raise,” an Easter hymn of great beauty, is by the 
late Christopher Wordsworth, Bishop of Lincoln. 
It first appeared in a collection of the bishop’s 
hymns, after which it was included in several 
hymnals. It had the advantage of being set to 
music by the late Arthur Sullivan, who success- 
fully interpreted the joyful nature of the words, 
the result being an inspiring hymn, both as re- 
gards music and words. 

It is based on the words taken from the 15th 
chapter of the second book of Corinthians : “Now 
is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first- 
fruits of them that slept.” In most hymnals it 
is given in an unaltered form with the exception 
of the following verse, which is usually omitted :— 


Now the iron bars are broken, Christ from death to life 
is born ; 

Glorious life, and life immortal, on the holy Easter morn: 

Christ has triumphed, and we conquer by His mighty 
enterprise, 

We with Him to life eternal by His Resurrection rise. 


This hymn is full of praise and hope and is one 
of the most lyrical compositions Dr. Wordsworth 
ever penned. 


EASTER HYMNS 129 

A good translator seldom makes a very success- 
ful original hymnist. This was the case with John 
Mason Neale. Very few of his original hymns 
will live, though his translations will always be 
regarded as among the finest in our hymnals. 
One composition of an original nature by the late 
hymnist, however, has been accorded a good deal 
of favour, and is now to be found in a great 
number of collections. This was an Easter carol 
beginning, “ The foe behind, the deep before.” It 
differs considerably from any other hymn in the 
language, being written ina kind of irregular verse, 
if the expression be allowable. It was composed 
in 1853 and published the following year in his 
Carols for Easter-tide. In the original it con- 
sists of twelve stanzas, but these have been greatly 
reduced in the hymnal. It was set to music by 
Dr. Joseph Barnby, and was a great favourite 
among the Eton boys. 

“Crown Him with many crowns,” by the late 
Matthew Bridges, though not specially written for 
Easter, is eminently suited for that season of the 
year. It first appeared in the author’s Hymns of 
the Heart, and was subsequently included in a 
great number of collections. Mr. Bridges based 
his composition on the words “ And on His head 
were many crowns,” and has succeeded in produc- 

F.H. 9 


130 EASTER. HYMNS 


ing one of the finest sacred lyrics in the language. 
It has been altered by various editors and appears 
in few hymnals exactly as the author wrote it. 
In Thring’s collection only one stanza is by 
Mr. Bridges, the remaining four being the work 
of the editor. The following verse is often 
omitted :-— 
Crown Him the Virgin’s Son, 
The God Incarnate born, 
Whose arm those crimson trophies won 
Which now His brow adorn: 
Fruit of the mystic Rose, 
As of that Rose the Stem; 


The Root whence mercy ever flows, 
The Babe of Bethlehem. 


Matthew Bridges was born at Maldon, in 
Essex, in 1800, and, though brought up a member 
of the Church of England, early in life seceded to 
the Church of Rome. He published two small 
volumes of hymns, one in 1848 and the other 
in 1852. From these the majority of his hymns 
have been taken, not one of which, however, can 
compare in point of popularity with his “Crown 
Him with many crowns.” Mr. Bridges towards 
the close of his life lived in Canada. He died in 
Quebec in 1893. 

“ Rejoice, the Lord is King” is equally suited 
to either Easter or Ascension. It is by Charles 


EASTER HYMNS 131 


Wesley, and was first printed in1746. In point of 
popularity and the number of hymnals in which it 
is to be found it compares favourably with the 
same author’s “Hark, the herald angels sing,” 
and “Jesu, Lover of my soul.” In many collec- 
tions the following verse is omitted :— 


He all His foes shall quell, 
Shall all our sins destroy, 
And every bosom swell 
With pure seraphic joy ; 
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice, 
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice. 


This hymn attracted the attention of Handel, 
who wrote for it the very fine melody called 
“Gopsal.” The original of this setting is at present 
located in the Fitzwilliam Museum, together with 
many other of Handel’s manuscripts. It is often 
thought that the small notes for the organ, which 
my readers will perhaps recollect are inter- 
polated between the two lines of the refrain, were 
added afterwards by another composer, but this is 
not the case. The tune has been collated with 
the original and agrees with it in every particular. 
“ Rejoice, the Lord is King,” is almost the only 
hymn to be found in our hymnals which has been 
set to music by Handel. 

“All hail the power of Jesus’ Name,” though 


132 EASTER HYMNS 


seldom placed among the hymns for Easter or 
Ascension, is distinctly suitable for either occasion. 
It was written by Edward Perronet, and published 
in the Gospel Magazine in 1780. It is somewhat 
curious that the tune by Shrubsole, which is as 
famous as the hymn itself, was published at the 
same time and in the same magazine. This tune, 
which might have been by the same hand as 
penned that to “Lo, He comes with clouds 
descending,” received its name of “Miles Lane,” 
it is said, from the chapel in Miles Lane, Lon- 
don, where Shrubsole was for many years 
organist. 

The hymn as originally published contained 
eight stanzas. The following verse, however, is 
generally omitted :— 


Let highborn seraphs tune the lyre, 
And as they tune it fall 

Before His face who tunes their choir, 
And crown Him Lord of all. 


This verse is rather a clumsy one, and does not 
add in any degree to the value or beauty of the 
hymn. 

In Wesley’s Hymn Book appears another verse 
which is not by Perronet at all. It is the last in 
the hymn, and reads as follows :— 


EASTER HYMNS 133 


O that with yonder sacred throng 
We at His feet may fall, 

Join in the everlasting song, 
And crown Him Lord of all. 


This verse, too, is a weak one, and compares 
unfavourably with the rest of the hymn. Though 
Edward Perronet wrote other hymns, some of them, 
perhaps, in merit equal to “ All hail the power of 
Jesus’ Name,” it cannot be said that any one of 
them has become familiar to the church-going 
public. Like many another hymnist, his reputa- 
tion rests on a single composition. 

“Light’s abode, celestial Salem,” a hymn 
suitable for Easter or Ascension, though not 
specially written for either, is a translation from 
the Latin by John Mason Neale. It is by an 
unknown writer of the 15th century. The trans- 
lation first appeared in Dr. Neale’s Hymus on the 
Joys and Glories of Paradise, published a few 
months previous to his death in 1866. The little 
volume attracted attention by reason of the beauty 
of the translations, and many of the hymns con- 
tained in it soon began to make their appearance 
in a large number of collections. Perhaps the 
following extract, taken from the Preface to the 
first edition of Dr. Neale’s little volume, helped in 
a measure to popularize his Latin translation :— 


134 EASTER HYMNS 


“T wish to add,” he said,—“and this for the 
publisher as well as for myself—that any compiler 
of a future hymnal is perfectly welcome to make 
use of anything contained in this little book, only 
he will, perhaps, in that case, let us have a copy of 
his Hymnal when published. And I am very 
glad to have this opportunity of saying how 
strongly I feel that a hymn, whether original or 
translated, ought, the moment it is published, to 
become the common property of Christendom, 
the author retaining no private right in it what- 
ever. I suppose that no one ever sent forth a 
hymn without some faint hope that he might be 
casting his two mites into that treasury of the 
Church, into which the ‘many that were rich’— 
Ambrose and Hildebert, and Adam and Bernard 
of Cluny, and S. Bernard—yes, and Santeiiil and 
Coffin—‘cast in much. But having so cast it in, 
is not the claiming a vested interest in it some- 
thing like ‘keeping back part of the price of the 
land’ ?” 

The melody, “Regent Square,” to which “ Light’s 
abode, celestial Salem” is usually sung, was 
composed by Henry Smart soon after the appear- 
ance of the translation. 

An Easter hymn of great beauty and vigour is 
Robert Campbell’s translation from the Latin, 


EASTER HYMNS 135 


“ At the Lamb’s high feast we sing.” The author 
of the original is unknown, but it is generally 
supposed to have been written sometime during 
the 6th century. The translation was compiled, 
’ according to a manuscript which is in the posses- 
sion of Mrs. E. Campbell, in 1849. It was printed 
the following year in a small volume of hymns 
which has long since been out of print. 

Robert Campbell is not known as a writer of 
original hymns, though a few of these have been 
published. The popularity of his “ At the Lamb’s 
high feast we sing,” however, is beyond that of 
any other translation, though there have been 
many. It is to be found in a very large number 
of hymnals and has been copied into a great 
many foreign collections. The stirring melody to 
which it is allied, known as “Salzburg,” is from 
J. Sebastian Bach. 

Robert Campbell was a Scotch Advocate, but 
devoted much of his time to the classics. He found 
relaxation from his professional duties in making 
translations of Latin hymns, many of which were 
published in a volume called the St Andrew's 
Hymnal. In 1852, at the age of thirty-eight, he 
left the Episcopal Church of Scotland and be- 
came a Roman Catholic. He died in Edinburgh 
in 1868 at the early age of fifty-four. 


136 EASTER HYMNS 


“The Day of Resurrection” is a translation 
from the Greek made by John Mason Neale. 
The original of this beautiful Easter song belongs 
to the eighth century, and is generally supposed 
to be by St. John of Damascus. This hymn is 
sung every Easter Day at Athens, and in his 
book of translations Dr. Neale quotes the follow- 
ing account by a modern writer of one of those 
Easter ceremonies which he witnessed previous 
to making his translation :— 

“ As midnight approached, the Archbishop, with 
his priests, accompanied by the King and Queen, 
left the church, and stationed themselves on the 
platform, which was raised considerably from the 
ground, so that they were distinctly seen by 
the people. Every one now remained in breath- 
less expectation, holding their unlighted tapers in 
readiness when the glad moment should arrive, 
while the priests still continued murmuring their 
melancholy chant in a low half-whisper. Suddenly 
a single report of a cannon announced that twelve 
o'clock had struck, and the Easter Day had begun. 
Then the old Archbishop, elevating the cross, 
exclaimed in a loud exulting tone, ‘ Christos anesti, 
Christ is risen!’ and instantly every single indi- 
vidual of all the host took up the cry, and the vast 
multitude broke through and dispelled for ever 


EASTER HYMNS 137 


the intense and mournful silence which they had 
maintained so long with one spontaneous shout 
of indescribable joy and triumph, ‘ Christ is risen ! 
Christ is risen!’ At the same moment the oppres- 
sive darkness was succeeded by a blaze of light 
from thousands of tapers, which, communicating 
one from another, seemed to send streams of fire 
in all directions, rendering the minutest objects 
distinctly visible, and casting the most vivid glow 
on the expressive faces, full of exultation, of the 
rejoicing crowds; bands of music struck up their 
gayest strains ; the roll of the drum through the 
town, and further on the pealing of the cannon 
announced far and near these ‘glad tidings of 
great joy’; while from hill and plain, from the 
seashore and the far olive grove, rocket after 
rocket ascending to the clear sky, answered back 
with their mute eloquence that Christ is risen 
indeed, and told of other tongues that were repeat- 
ing those blessed words, and other hearts that 
leapt for joy; everywhere men clasped each 
other's hands, and congratulated one another, 
and embraced with countenances beaming with 
delight, as though to each one separately some 
wonderful happiness had been proclaimed—and 
so in truth it was—and all the while, rising above 
the mingling of many sounds, each one of which 


138 EASTER HYMNS 


was a sound of gladness, the aged priests were 
distinctly heard chanting forth a glorious old 
hymn of victory in tones so loud and clear 
that they seemed to have regained their youth 
and strength to tell the world how ‘Christ is risen 
from the dead, having trampled death beneath 
His feet, and henceforth the entomb’d have ever- 
lasting life.’ ” 

‘ He is gone—beyond the skies” is one of the 
few hymns by the late Dean Stanley which may 
be said to have come into common use in this 
country. It first appeared in a popular magazine, 
signed with the Dean’s initials, after which it was 
included in a large number of collections. A 
pretty story is told in connexion with the writing 
of this hymn. While in conversation with the 
Dean a friend happened to remark that his chil- 
dren had complained that there was no hymn 
really suitable for Ascension Day. They were 
also very much concerned as to what the disciples 
thought when “a cloud received Him out of their 
sight.” The Dean seems to have been struck by 
the childish remarks, and replied that he would 
write such a hymn. “He is gone—beyond the 
skies,” was the result. This story is related in a 
volume of poems entitled Christ in Song, by 
Dr. Phillip Schaff. 


EASTER HYMNS 139 


Of the immense number of hymns _ which 
Thomas Kelly wrote, the majority are of a joyful 
nature. He must have been a man_ possessed 
of a tremendous fund of good spirits and well 
able to look on the bright side of life, for though 
his career was anything but an untroubled one he 
seldom gave expression to feelings of melancholy, 
even in his writings. His hymns are characterized 
by unbounded faith, hope, joy and praise. 

One of Mr. Kelly’s most beautiful compositions 
is “ The Head that once was crowned with thorns,” 
evidently intended.by the author for use at Ascen- 
sion services. It was first published in a collection 
of his hymns in 1820, and subsequently in a great 
number of hymnals. This hymn has never had 
the advantage of having a very good tune written 
to it. That by Jeremiah Clark, to which it is 
usually sung, is a somewhat melancholy setting, 
not at all in keeping with the general character of 
the hymn. The words are certainly worthy the 
attention of our foremost composers. 

“Alleluia! sing to Jesus” is not infrequently 
sung as a Communion hymn, but I give it a place 
under this chapter in consequence of the follow- 
ing verse, which stamps it, in my opinion, as an 
Ascension hymn :— 


140 EASTER HYMNS 


Alleluia ! not as orphans 
We are left in sorrow now; 
Alleluia! He is near us, 
Faith believes, nor questions how: 
Though the cloud from sight received Him 
When the forty days were o’er, 
Shall our hearts forget His promise— 
“T am with you evermore”? 


This hymn was written by the late William 
Chatterton Dix about the same time that he 
composed “Come unto Me, ye weary.” The joy- 
ful nature of the composition indicates, however, 
that the author was in good health when he wrote 
it, and not, as in the case of the latter hymn, just 
recovering from a serious illness. This hymn has 
been fortunate in being given in the majority of 
hymnals as the author wrote it. The melody to 
which it is generally allied was composed by 
Dr. S.S. Wesley. It is a spirited tune, and has 
added in no small degree to the beauty of the 
hymn. ; 


Vil 


Processional bymns 


MONG those hymns specially suited for 
singing in processions of a religious 
nature none enjoys a greater degree of popularity 
than Dean Alford’s “ Forward ! be our watchword.” 
This hymn was written for a choral festival held 
in connexion with the Canterbury Diocesan 
Union, and was first published in 1871. Mr. 
H. E. T. Crusoe, the late Dean’s son-in-law, 
some few years since drew my attention to the 
following account of how “Forward! be our 
watchword” came to be written :— 

“It is related in the life of the Rev. J. G. 
Wood that Mr. Wood once asked the Dean to 
write a processional hymn for a choral festival, 
and to compose the music also. The Dean was 
at first a little overcome by the audacity of the 
proposal, but finally consented, and wrote a very 


admirable hymn. But, good as it was, it was not 
141 


142 PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 


the kind of hymn wanted, and so Mr. Wood wrote 
off again to the Dean, pointing out that the hymn 
was not well adapted to sing on the march. Would 
he, therefore, go into his cathedral, walk slowly 
along the course the procession would take, and 
compose another hymn as he did so? The Dean, 
not in the least offended, did as he was bid, and 
the result was that grand hymn beginning :— 


Forward ! be our watchword, 
Steps and voices joined ; 

Seek the things before us, 
Not a look behind. 

The MS. reached Mr. Wood with a humor- 
ous little note to the effect that the Dean had 
written the hymn and put it into its hat and 
boots, and that Mr. Wood might add the coat and 
trousers for himself! On looking at the music, 
Mr. Wood found accordingly that only the treble 
and bass had been supplied by the composer; the 
alto and tenor were added by Mrs. Worthington 
Bliss. The effect of the hymn when sung by the 
vast body of a thousand choristers was utterly 
beyond the power of words to describe.” 

The tune to which this hymn was originally 
sung, and which, as already stated, was composed 
by the author, is now seldom used, having been 
long since supplanted by Henry Gadsby’s “St. 


PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 143 


Boniface,” or a very beautiful melody by Henry 
Smart. The hymn is very often broken up into 
two parts, being far too long for an ordinary ser- 
vice. When composing the hymn Dean Alford 
kept before him the words, “Speak unto the chil- 
dren of Israel, that they go forward.” It was on 
these words that the hymn was based. 

“The Royal Banners forward go” is Neale’s 
translation of a processional hymn by Fortunatus, 
which dates back to the sixth century. This mag- 
nificent composition, known as the Vexilla Regis, 
was written under exceptionally interesting cir- 
cumstances. The story goes that in the year 569, 
St. Radegund presented to the town of Poictiers 
a fragment of what was believed to be the true 
Cross. Fortunatus was the one chosen to receive 
the sacred relic on its arrival at Poictiers. When 
the bearers of the holy fragment were some two 
miles distant from the town, Fortunatus, with a 
great gathering of believers and enthusiasts, some 
carrying banners, crosses and other sacred em- 
blems, went forth to meet them. As _ they 
marched they sang the hymn which Fortunatus 
had composed, the Vexilla Regis, now rendered 
familiar to us by the version beginning, “ The 
Royal Banners forward go.” 

There have been many translations of this 


144 PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 


hymn, but that by Dr. Neale has eclipsed them 
all. It was first published in his Mediaeval 
Hymns, from whence it was soon transferred to 
a great number of hymnals. Though it is dis- 
tinctly a processional hymn, Fortunatus himself 
having that object in view when he wrote it, it is 
also very often sung on the fifth Sunday in Lent, 
otherwise known as Passion Sunday. 

There are two well known melodies to this 
hymn, one called St. Cecilia, by the Rev. John 
Hampton, and the other, a plain song, appropriately 
named “ Vexilla Regis,’ by an unknown composer. 
Both these tunes are somewhat melancholy and 
quite unworthy so great a hymn. This composi- 
tion also deserves the serious attention of our best 
composers. 

A hymn well known to even the smallest child 
attending Sunday school is :— 


Quware Ti au Sistenw 
Phanrctertey ao WY PTHR 
YI Pe Curr Jove 

Gesu aa A f PR. 


In fact, it was written for children, though 
many compilers of works on hymnody affirm 
that the author had adults in his mind when he 
wrote it. The hymn was written by the Rev. 


PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 145 


Sabine Baring-Gould in a great hurry for his 
mission at Horbury Bridge about the year 1865. 
Here the children had to march many a long 
mile to take part in what is dear to the heart of 
every true child—a school feast. Owing to the 
distance from the church to the scene of the 
festivities, an early start was necessary, and 
marching in procession with banners waving, 
colours flying, and a cross preceding them, the 
little ones sang lustily all the way. It was 
for these processions that “Onward, Christian 


2 


soldiers ” was written, and though it is many a 
year since Mr. Baring-Gould led those enthusi- 
astic little pilgrims of Horbury Bridge, it is not 
improbable that the hymn is as great a favourite 
among the newer generation there as it was thirty- 
five years ago. It was then sung to Gauntlet’s 
tune, for Sullivan had not then composed that 
stirring march which would have made his name 
popular had he never written another note. In 
connexion with Sullivan’s setting, which he 
christened “St. Gertrude,” it is interesting to learn 
that after writing it the composer remarked that 
he was afraid that it would be too “ brassy” and 
martial for church singing. He was more than 
surprised at its popularity. 

The fourth stanza of this hymn, which runs :-— 

F.H. 10 


146 PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 


What the Saints established 
That I hold for true. 

What the Saints believéd, 
That believe I too. 

Long as earth endureth, 
Men the faith will hold, 
Kingdoms, nations, empires 

In destruction roll’d, 


is now generally omitted. Some time ago | asked 
Mr. Baring-Gould if he had written the verse, and 
if so, why it was so often excluded from our 
hymnals, and he replied: “The verse to which 
you refer was written by me, but as the hymn has 
been used in many religious communities where 
such words would be absurd if sung, they have been 
omitted.” Mr. Baring-Gould has not the slightest 
objection to this being done; indeed, he says he 
considers it very sensible. 

Exception is sometimes taken to the following 
lines, which occur in the third stanza :— 


We are not divided, 
All one body we, 

One in hope and doctrine, 
One in charity. 


Though no one would deny that all true Christians 
are one in hope and charity, or ought to be, it is 
more than probable that on occasions they are not 
one in doctrine. But then, again, it is also equally 


PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 147 


true that, whenever the hymn is sung, whether in 
church or chapel, that particular congregation is 
not only one in hope and charity, but also one in 
doctrine. 

Rather a good story is told in connexion with 
this hymn, which may or may not be true. It is 
related that a certain rather low church vicar, 
though he liked processions, particularly when 
he headed them, stoutly objected to the cross 
being carried. The organist and the choirmaster 
both did their best to persuade him that there was 
nothing wrong in carrying a cross, but they might 
just as well have addressed their remarks to his 
pulpit. The vicar was adamant. At last, losing 
all patience, the choirmaster altered the first verse, 
and the procession began their march round the 
church to the words :— 


Onward, Christian soldiers, 
Marching as to war, 

With the Cross of Jesus 
Left behind the door. 


Whether the vicar saw more clearly after that is 
not recorded. 

Another hymn which has, through the transla- 
tion made by Mr. Baring-Gould, become a general 
favourite in all English-speaking countries is, 
“Through the night of doubt and sorrow.” This 


148 PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 


hymn, while not specially written as a processional, 
is, through the lesson it teaches of progress and 
unity, eminently suited for singing as a “ March 
Militant.” Mr. Baring-Gould’s translation has 
become widely used and is to be found in most 
hymnals published during the last thirty-five years. 
It is not always given exactly as the translator 
wrote it, but the alterations have been made in 
most instances, I believe, with Mr. Baring-Gould’s 
sanction. In some hymnals the following verse— 
one of the best—is often omitted :— 
Onward, therefore, pilgrim brothers, 
Onward with the Cross our aid; 


Bear its shame, and fight its battle, 
Till we rest beneath its shade. 


This hymn, I believe, was also written for the chil- 
dren of Horbury Bridge, and was first sung by 
them previous to being published in 1867. It has 
been set to music by many celebrated composers, 
but the tune with which it is most closely allied is 
that by Dr. J. B. Dykes, called “St. Oswald.” Dr. 
Dykes had a fondness for naming tunes after 
places of which he had happy recollections, and 
his tune to “Through the night of doubt and 
sorrow” received its name in memory of his own 
church in Durham. 

The original of Mr. Baring-Gould’s translation is 


PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 149 


by a Danish poet, Bernhardt Severin Ingemann, 
and is a general favourite in Denmark. It was 
written in 1825, and is the only hymn by this 
author which has found a place in English hym- 
nals. Other translations of his hymns have been 
made, but it cannot be said that any one of them is 
known to the ordinary student of hymnology. 
Ingemann died in 1862 at the age of seventy-three. 
One of the most lyric of all Dr. Neale’s transla- 
tions from the Latin is a hymn, by an unknown 
author of the fifteenth or sixteenth century, begin- 
ning :-— 
To the Name of our Salvation 
Laud and honour let us pay, 
Which for many a generation 
Hid in God’s foreknowledge lay, 


But with holy exultation 
We may sing aloud to-day. 


This hymn, as given in very many collections, 
has been considerably altered from Dr. Neale’s 
original version first published in his Mediaeval 
Hymns. In Hymns Ancient and Modern the 
translation is quite as much the work of the com- 
pilers as it is that of Dr. Neale. The translator, 
however, was consulted with regard to the altera- 
tions before they were made, and offered no objec- 
tion. This version has become by far the most 


150 _ PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 


popular and has been copied into a great number 
of other collections. 
To the following verse :— 


Jesus is the Name exalted 
Over every other name ; 
In this Name, whene’er assaulted, 
We can put our foes to shame ; 
Strength to them who else had halted, 
Eyes to blind and feet to lame, 


exception has been taken. “The separation of 
the last two lines from their verb,” writes some one, 
“makes it difficult to follow the sense, and ‘ Eyes 
to blind and feet to lame’ is not English.” 

Dr. Neale is said to have been very rapid in 
making his translations, and in support of this the 
following anecdote is related by the late Gerald 
Moultrie :-— 

“Dr. Neale was invited by Mr. Keble and the 
Bishop of Salisbury to assist them with their new 
hymnal, and for this purpose he paid a visit to 
Hursley parsonage. On one occasion, Mr. Keble, 
having to go to another room to find some papers, 
was detained a short time. On his return Dr. 
Neale said, “Why, Keble, I thought you told me 
that the Christian Year was entirely original?” 
“ Yes,” he answered, “it certainly is.” “Then how 
comes this ?” and Dr. Neale placed before him the 


I THE REV. J. J. DANIELL. 
Photo by Lambert, Bath. 


2 THE REV.) le) L- LYNCH. 3 THE REV. G. S. HODGES, BR A. 
Photo by W. E. Debenham, Haverstock Hill. Photo by W. Plumbe, Maidenheaa 
4 THE REV. S. J. STONE, M.A. 5 THE REV. THOMAS BINNEY, !) D. 
From a Photo. From a Photo. 


6 THE REV. CANON ELLERTON, M.A. 
Photo by Gillman, Oxford. 


PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 151 


Latin of one of Keble’s hymns. Keble professed 
himself utterly confounded. He protested that 
he had never seen this ‘ original ’—no, not in all 
his life. After a few minutes of quiet enjoyment, 
Neale relieved him by owning that he had just 
turned it into Latin during his absence.” 

The late Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. 
Temple, is said to have remarked on one occa- 
sion that whenever he was called upon to open 
a new church or preside at a dedication festival 
he could safely count upon two things — cold 
chicken and “The Church’s one Foundation.” 
His Grace’s remarks, however, were not intended 
to detract in any way from the real and acknow- 
ledged merits of either, both being practically 
above criticism. 

The late Mr. Stone’s hymn, deservedly termed 
“ great,” has been for close upon forty years the 
“National Anthem” of the churches :— 


Opa es ed Hy 
Be fier Cas Fe | eS 
PN es An) enn eo 
e 9 Cot | aS Jt. Zé 23. 


In an interesting correspondence which I had 


152 PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 


with the author some years ago regarding his 
famous hymn, Mr. Stone told me that its origin 
might be traced to the interest he took in Bishop 
Grey’s defence of the catholic faith against the 
teachings of Bishop Colenso. In the following 
verse Mr. Stone pointedly refers to this circum- 
stance :— 


Though with a scornful wonder 
Men see her sore opprest, 

By schisms rent asunder, 
By heresies distrest ; 

Yet saints their watch are keeping, 
Their cry goes up, “ How long?” 

And soon the night of weeping 
Shall be the morn of song. 


“The Church’s one Foundation” has a remark- 
able effect on some temperaments. I have been 
told by men whose natures could hardly be termed 
“gentle” that to listen to this hymn sung by a 
large congregation was almost more than they 
could stand; it made them feel weak at the 
knees, their legs trembled and they felt as though 
they were going to collapse. It seems an absurd 
statement to make, and yet I think some of us can 
understand the sensation. Though the hymn is 
“triumphant,” in a sense there is a certain sadness 
running through it which almost brings the tears 
to one’s eyes. The melody with which it is inse- 


PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 153 


parably associated, though not specially composed 
for it, also has a certain mournfulness which ad- 
mirably suits the suppressed exultation of the 
words, and may perhaps in some measure account 
for the feeling of depression which the hymn some- 
times produces. 

Mr. Stone altered the hymn a good deal after 
its publication in 1866, changing certain verses, 
omitting others, and. substituting stanzas which 
were written after the hymn had appeared 
in a considerable number of collections. The 
version as given in Hymns Ancient and Modern 
is the one most widely known. It has been 
translated into many languages and finds a place 
in nearly all missionary hymnals. 

“The Church’s one Foundation” has been sung 
on many memorable occasions, perhaps the most 
striking being in 1888 when special services were 
held, in connexion with the Lambeth Conference, 
at Canterbury Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and 
St. Paul’s Cathedral. At each of these services 
“The Church’s one Foundation” was sung and 
produced a profound impression. By one who 
was present at St. Paul’s on this occasion I was 
told that the effect was almost appalling. It 
made a more lasting impression on his mind than 
anything else connected with that historic service. 


154 PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 


Only a very short time before his death in 1901 
I received a letter from this great hymnist written 
in a trembling hand. He apologized for the poor- 
ness of the writing, excusing himself with the 
remark that he was dying and therefore unable 
to produce good penmanship. Two days later he 
breathed his last, and the Church was the poorer 
by the loss of a great man. He lies buried in the 
yard of the church over which he had presided for 
so many years—St. Paul’s, Haggerston. 

On a processional hymn by St. Joseph of the 
Studium Dr. Neale based his very beautiful :— 


O happy band of pilgrims, 
If onward ye will tread 
With Jesus as your Fellow 

To Jesus as your Head! 


On Dr. Neale’s own confession this hymn may 
almost be regarded as original, seeing that there is 
in it very little that can be traced to St. Joseph. 
In most collections it is headed “ The fellowship of 
His sufferings,” and given exactly as Dr. Neale 
wrote it, no alteration being made whatever. The 
melody with which this hymn has been associated 
almost from the year of its translation was com- 
posed by J. H. Knecht towards the close of the 
eighteenth century. 


PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 155 


A hymn which was specially written with the 
object of its being sung as a children’s processional 
is “Brightly gleams our banner.” It is an immense 
favourite in the country where Sunday school 
processions take place almost every other day 
throughout the summer. It is probably quite as 
well known as “Onward, Christian soldiers” and 
as frequently sung. The following verse makes 
it particularly suited for children :— 

Pattern of our childhood, 
Once Thyself a child, 
Make our childhood holy, 
Pure and meek and mild. 
In the hour of danger, 
Whither can we flee, 
Save to Thee, our Saviour, 
Only unto Thee? 
Brightly gleams our banner, 
Pointing to the sky, 
Waving on Christ’s soldiers 
To their home on high! 

This hymn was written by the Rev. Thomas 
Joseph Potter about the year 1858. It has been 
considerably altered, the verses which had special 
application to Roman Catholics having been elim- 
inated. The refrain to this hymn in many collec- 
tions runs :— 


Brightly gleams our banner, 
Pointing to the sky, 


156 PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 


Waving wanderers onward 
To their home on high. 

This is the only hymn of Mr. Potter’s which is to 
be found in the ordinary hymnal. He wrote a few 
others, which have been published in collections of 
limited circulation, and which have long since been 
forgotten. The author was a man of much learn- 
ing and the writer of many prose works. He 
dabbled in fiction as a recreation from his more 
serious work, and several of his short stories ap- 
peared in various journals. Though brought up a 
Protestant he at the early age of twenty joined the 
Roman Catholic faith, and subsequently took 
great interest in foreign missionary work. He 
died in Ireland in 1873 at the age of forty- 
six, 

“Hail the day that sees Him rise,” though 
primarily a hymn for Ascension, is so often sung 
as a processional that I think no apology is 
needed for placing it in this chapter. It is one of 
Charles Wesley’s most successful compositions and 
was written before he had reached the age of thirty. 
It has probably undergone more alterations at the 
hands of editors than any other of Charles Wesley’s 
hymns, very few collections giving precisely similar 
versions. 

In four hymnals before me of wide circulation it 


PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 157 


is interesting to compare the different versions. In 
Charles Wesley’s collection the first verse reads :— 


Hail the day that sees Him rise, 
Ravished from our wishful eyes ! 
Christ, awhile to mortals given, 
Reascends his native heaven. 


In another collection this verse has been changed 
to :— 
Hail the day that sees Him rise, 
Alleluia ! 
To His Throne above the skies ; 
Alleluia ! 
Christ, the Lamb for sinners given, 
Alleluia ! 
Enters now the highest heav’n. 
Alleluia ! 


In the Church Hymnary it is given as Charles 
Wesley wrote it, but in stanzas of eight lines each 
instead of four. In Thring’s collection, besides 
being considerably altered, each line ends with 
“ Hallelujah !” 

A very successful processional hymn by a living 
writer is :— 

Saviour, blesséd Saviour, 
Listen while we sing ; 


Hearts and voices raising 
Praises to our King. 


This hymn in the original consists of nine 


158 PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 


stanzas of eight lines each, but in the majority 
of hymnals it has been reduced to six or seven. 
The following verse is very often omitted :— 


Farther, even farther 
From Thy wounded side 
Heedlessly we wandered, 
Wandered far and wide ; 
Till Thou cam’st in mercy, 
Seeking young and old, 
Lovingly to bear them, 
Saviour, to Thy fold. 


There is no particular story connected with the 
writing of this hymn. In a letter received from 
the author some short time since, Prebendary 
Thring says :— 

“TI am sorry to say that I am quite unable to 
give you any account of the circumstances under 
which I wrote ‘Saviour, blesséd Saviour, as I 
made no note on the MS. _ It probably arose, 
like a great number of my compositions, from 
some thought which happened to be passing 
through my mind at the time. I wrote it a 
great number of years ago, as far back as 1862, 
and it was one of the first of the many hymns 
I have written, the very first having been com- 
posed in 1861.” 

Prebendary Thring has written a great number 


PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 159 


of hymns for special occasions, such as church 
consecration, synods, friendly societies, con- 
secration of a lych gate, etc, with music 
separately. His Church of England Hymn Book, 
one of the finest collections in the language, was 
published without music. 

The late Dean Edward Hayes Plumtre is the 
author of that very fine processional hymn :— 

Rejoice, ye pure in heart, 

Rejoice, give thanks and sing ; 
Your festal banner wave on high, 

The Cross of Christ your King. 

This hymn was written in 1865 and first sung in 
Peterborough Cathedral. The history of its origin 
is interesting. It appears that when the Peter- 
borough Choral Union were arranging for their 
annual festival in 1865 Mr. Plumtre, as he was 
then, was asked to write a special processional 
hymn to be used in Peterborough Cathedral on 
the occasion of the festival. He readily consented 
to do so, and forthwith penned the hymn which 
has since become so popular, “ Rejoice, ye pure in 
heart.” The hymn was received with considerable 
favour, so much so, indeed, that the author subse- 
quently printed it in a volume of his poems entitled 
Lazarus. It was there seen by Sir Henry Baker, 
who was at that time contemplating the first 


160 PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 


appendix to Hymns Ancient and Modern. He 
wrote to the author requesting his permission to 
include it in his hymnal, a request which Mr. 
Plumtre cheerfully granted. Sir Henry immedi- 
ately handed the hymn over to his musical editor, 
Dr. William Henry Monk, who wrote for it that 
very spirited and appropriate melody to which it 
has ever since been sung. In compliment to the 
place of its birth and the grand old cathedral 
where the lines were first publicly sung, the com- 
poser christened the tune “ Peterborough.” It may 
be mentioned that the composition was written 
with Dr. Monk’s usual celerity, that is in some 
ten or fifteen minutes. 
In some hymnals the following verse, one of the 

finest, is often omitted :— 

Bright youth and snow-crown’d age, 

Strong men and maidens meek, 


Raise high your free exulting song, 
God’s wondrous praises speak. 


“ Rejoice, ye pure in heart” is not the only pro- 
cessional hymn Dean Plumtre wrote. His “ March, 
march onward, soldiers true” is a very fine com- 
position, especially when sung to the “ March of 
the Israelites,” for which it was written. It is not 
of course as well known as “Rejoice, ye pure in 
heart,” though in many respects quite equal to 


PROCESSIONAL HYMNS 161 


it in merit. Another processional hymn which 
Dean Plumtre wrote is “O praise the Lord our 
God,” which is specially suited for a thanksgiving 
hymn. It was written about the same time as 
“Rejoice, ye pure in heart.” 


VIII 


Communion hymns 


NCLUDED in the very large number of 
hymns which have been specially written 
for the office of Holy Communion are composi- 
tions by many of our greatest hymnists. Dr. 
Doddridge’s “My God, and is Thy table spread” 
was written for the administration of the Holy 
Sacrament. Curiously enough, though it is, per- 
haps, the best known of all Doddridge’s com- 
positions in England and all English-speaking 
countries, its use in Scotland is very limited. 
Why this should be so it is difficult to say, see- 
ing that many of Dr. Doddridge’s other hymns 
are widely sung and appreciated in northern 
Britain. 
“My God, and is Thy table spread,” like the 
majority of Doddridge’s hymns, was not published 


until after his death. This is probably to be ac- 
162 


COMMUNION HYMNS 163 


counted for by the fact that during his lifetime 
when any of his compositions were sung they were 
usually given out line by line from the pulpit. 
There are, however, many manuscripts of this 
hymn in preservation, one being in the posses- 
sion of Mrs. Allen, of Bristol. It is related that 
when his hymns became known Dr. Doddridge 
was asked by several members of his congregation 
for copies, and the good Doctor, with that simple- 
hearted kindliness which was his chiefest character- 
istic, would sit down and write out the special hymn 
required and afterwards present it to the applicant 
with a smile of peculiar sweetness. In this way 
many of Dr. Doddridge’s manuscripts have come 
to be preserved and treasured for close upon one 
hundred and fifty years. Some of them are so 
fresh and clear that they might have been written 
but yesterday. 

When Dr. Doddridge’s Sacramental hymn was 
first published in 1755 it was given in six verses of 
four lines each, but in modern hymnals it now 
appears in a reduced form, one or other of the 
following verses being usually omitted :— 


Let crowds approach with hearts prepared ; 
With hearts inflamed let all attend, 

Nor when we leave our Father’s board 
The pleasures or the profit end. 


164 COMMUNION HYMNS 


Revive Thy dying Churches, Lord, 
And bid our drooping graces live ; 
And, more, that energy afford 
A Saviour’s love alone can give. 


In the hymnal which is said to have the largest 
circulation in the world, the following Doxology is 
given. It is not, however, by Dr. Doddridge :— 


To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 

The God whom heaven and earth adore, 
From men and from the angel-host 

Be praise and glory evermore. 


This hymn is usually sung to a very beautiful 
melody called “ Rockingham,” by Dr. E. Miller. 
It is the same tune which is associated with 
“When I survey the wondrous Cross,” 

Among living hymnists who have given us com- 
positions which have already taken a firm hold on 
the affections of the Church is the Rev. Vincent 
Stuckey Stratton Coles, the present Librarian of 
Pusey House, Oxford. Mr. Coles is the author 
of several hymns which are included in many 
modern hymnals, his most celebrated being the 
one he wrote for Holy Communion, “We pray 
Thee, Heavenly Father.” This hymn was written 
while the author was curate of Wantage. Here 
Mr. Coles used to have large classes of young 


COMMUNION HYMNS 165 


people to prepare for confirmation, and it was 
for them that he specially wrote this hymn. 
Since the inclusion of “ We pray Thee, Heavenly 
Father” in many hymnals Mr. Coles has written a 
revised version, which has not, however, yet been 
published. He sends it to me with permission to 
reproduce, and as it differs in many respects from 
the original, I give it. Like the first version, it is 
in four stanzas of eight lines each. In some 
respects it is the finer hymn of the two :— 


We pray Thee, Heavenly Father, 
To hear us in Thy love, 

And pour upon Thy children 
The unction from above ; 

That so in love abiding, 
From all defilement free, 

We may in pureness offer, 
Our Eucharist to Thee. 


All that we have we offer, 
For it is all Thine own; 

All gifts by Thy appointment 
In bread and cup are shown ; 

One thing alone we bring not, 
The wilfulness of sin ; 

And all we bring is nothing, 
Save that which is within. 


Within the pure oblation, 
Beneath the outward sign, 

Through that His operation 
The Holy Ghost Divine, 


166 COMMUNION HYMNS 


Lies hid the Sacred Body, 
Lies hid the Precious Blood 

Once slain, now ever glorious, 
Of Christ our Lord and God. 


Wherefore though all unworthy 
To offer sacrifice, 
We pray that this our duty 
Be pleasing in Thine eyes; 
For thanks, and praise, and worship 
For mercy and for aid, 
The catholic memorial 
Of Jesus Christ is made. 


It will be noticed in comparing this hymn 
with the original that the first verse remains un- 
changed. Mr. Coles based his composition on the 
words “I love them that love Me: and those that 
seek Me early shall find Me.” The very beautiful 
and appropriate tune to which this hymn is allied, 
known as “Dies Dominica,” is by the late Dr. 
Dykes. 

The best known of all Josiah Conder’s hymns 
was written for use at Holy Communion. This is 
his very beautiful “ Bread of Heaven! on Thee we 
feed,” or as originally written, “Bread of Heaven ! 
on Thee 7 feed.” Mr. Charles E. Conder, son of 
the celebrated hymnist, tells me that the hymn 
was first published in the author’s Star of the 
East, which appeared in 1824. It is there headed 


COMMUNION HYMNS 167 


“For the Eucharist,” and preceded with the words 
taken from St. John :—‘I am the Living Bread 
which came down from heaven. Whoso eateth 
My flesh and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life. 
I am the true Vine.” 

The first verse of this hymn is usually given in 
an unaltered form with the exception of the change 
of “I” into “we.” The second verse in the manu- 
script, however, reading as follows :— 


Vine of Heaven! Thy Blood supplies 
This blest cup of sacrifice. 

’Tis Thy wounds my healing give, 
From Thy veins I drink and live. 
Thou my life! Oh, let me be 
Rooted, grafted, built in Thee, 


has been changed in nearly all hymnals to :— 


Vine of Heav’n! Thy Blood supplies 
This blest cup of sacrifice ; 

Lord, Thy wounds our healing give, 
To Thy Cross we look and live: 
Jesus, may we ever be 

Grafted, rooted, built in Thee. 


This hymn is contained in a large MS. volume 
consisting of 360 pages of close writing. In- 
scribed on the opening page is the following 
title :—* The Star of the East, with other Poems 
chiefly Religious and Domestic, by Josiah Con- 
der.” It contains odes to various people, a 


168 COMMUNION HYMNS 


large number of hymns, a very fine elegy on the 
death of Henry Kirke White, and a poem on 
Queen Caroline. 

Among the hymns is one which has not been 
published. As it is quite as terse and beautiful as 
those which have already found their way into our 
hymnals, I give it with his son’s permission :— 


O God, whose all-creating might 
Gave birth to Nature’s laws ; 

Whose Sovereign working day and night, 
Knows neither rest nor pause. 


Let Thy redemptive work of grace 
Like light its course pursue, 

Till earth’s wide circle it embrace, 
Creating all things new. 


Throughout the universe of mind 
Let light and healing spread : 
Then, come, Deliverer of mankind, 
And wake the slumbering dead. 


Mr. Conder tells me that his father was a very 
quick writer and very seldom altered his composi- 
tions when written. There is, unfortunately, no 
portrait of the late Mr. Conder in existence. His 
son possesses an old print depicting a group of 
people, in the midst of which the late hymnist 
appears, but it is so very minute that it is im- 
possible to distinguish one from the other. An 


THE REV. CANON BRIGHT, D.D. 
Photo by Elliott & Fry. 


MR. ALBERT MIDLANE. 
Photo by F. Quinton, Newport. 


COMMUNION HYMNS 169 


attempt was made some time ago to make an 
enlarged portrait of the hymnist from this group, 
but it proved a complete failure. 

The sad and solemn air to which “ Bread of 
Heaven! on Thee we feed” is invariably sung 
is by the present Archbishop of York, Dr. W. D. 
Maclagan. 

The late Canon Bright was the author of several 
Communion hymns, the best and most widely 
known being “ And now, O Father, mindful of the 
love,” and “Once, only once, and once for all.” 
Both these hymns first appeared in his volume of 
poems published in 1866. They soon attracted 
the eagle eye of Sir Henry Baker and subse- 
quently appeared in his hymnal. A short while 
before his death Canon Bright sent me a manu- 
script copy of “And now, O Father, mindful of 
the Love,” which I had hoped to reproduce, but 
unfortunately it has been mislaid. In sending me 
the composition Canon Bright wrote that he could 
remember nothing of interest regarding the cir- 
cumstances under which he wrote it. He com- 
posed many hymns in his early life and the 
Holy Eucharist had a peculiar charm for him. 
The hymn in question was written in 1864, and 
as given in his volume of poems it is of consider- 
able length. He reduced it for congregational 


170 COMMUNION HYMNS 


singing, and the hymn as it now appears really 
consists of verses taken from the longer poem. 

“Once, only once, and once for all,” was written 
about the same time as “ And now, O Father,” and 
is considered by some hymnists to be the finer of 
the two compositions, an opinion which I do not 
share. In some hymnals the following Doxology 
concludes the hymn; it is not, I believe, the work 
of Canon Bright :— 


All glory to the Father be, 
All glory to the Son, 

All glory, Holy Ghost, to Thee, 
While endless ages run. 


A hymn which was originally intended for use 
at Confirmation services, but which is now very 
frequently sung at Holy Communion, is Mrs. 
Maude’s “ Thine for ever! God of Love.” This 
hymn, the author of which is a resident of Ruabon, 
was written as long ago as 1847. In a correspond- 
ence which I had with Mrs. Maude some few 
years since I learned the story of its composition, 
which is an interesting one. 

“The hymn in question,” wrote the authoress, 
“was written for my own class of young women in 
my late husband’s then parish, St. Thomas, New- 
port, Isle of Wight. In 1847 we had large Sunday 


COMMUNION HYMNS 171 


Schools, and I used to take a class of elder girls. 
They were being prepared for Confirmation by the 
Bishop of Winchester and I was helping them in 
their work when I was suddenly attacked by a 
serious illness. When I was somewhat recovered 
I went for a change to the sea-side, and while 
there I used to write many letters to my girls. In 
one of these letters I wrote, quite spontaneously, 
the hymn ‘Thine for ever! God of Love’ It 
was no effort to me whatever, the words came un- 
sought; and, without even correcting the lines, 
the hymn, together with the letter, was despatched. 
These letters were afterwards published in a maga- 
zine, and some months later on opening the new 
hymnal published by the Christian Knowledge 
Society I was very much astonished to see my 
own little composition. How it got there I have 
never found out to this day. It has been a matter 
of most genuine surprise to me that my simple 
lines should have met with such acceptance in 
many lands, and I can only feel humble and 
thankful that they have been of service to so 
many.” 

The MS. which Mrs. Maude sent me of this 
hymn consists of seven verses, but the following 
two stanzas, she explains, were never introduced 


into any hymnal :— 


172 COMMUNION HYMNS 


Thine for ever in that day 

When the world shall pass away: 
When the trumpet note shall sound, 
And the nations underground 


Shall the awful summons hear, 
Which proclaims the judgment near. 
Thine for ever. ’Neath Thy wings 
Hide and save us, King of kings. 


“Tt has been a real regret to me,” continues 
Mrs. Maude’s interesting letter, “and I have been 
for many years trying to draw attention to the 
matter, that in several collections the fourth verse 
has been altered without any reference to me. It 
often stands thus :— 


‘Thine for ever! Saviour keep 
Us Thy weak and trembling sheep.’ 


“Now the connection between Shepherd (as I 
wrote) and sheep is too obvious to need comment ; 
but besides this, the title of Shepherd introduces 
a fresh and most endearing office of our Lord 
into the hymn, where Saviour had already oc- 
curred, 

“Then ‘us’ is a most unmusical word to begin a 
line with, and moreover the thought of the verse 
is lost, for the first two lines are a prayer for the 
catechumens from the congregation ;— 


COMMUNION HYMNS 173 


‘Thine for ever! Shepherd keep 

These Thy frail and trembling sheep ;’ 
then the supplication reverts and embraces all 
present :— 


‘ Safe alone beneath Thy care, 
Let us all Thy goodness share.’” 


Mrs. Maude’s complaint is a very reasonable 
one, and if any editor contemplating the publica- 
tion of a new collection of hymns should see these 
lines, it is to be hoped that he will respect Mrs. 
Maude’s wish and give the verse as she wrote it. 

“QO food that weary pilgrims love” is a transla- 
tion from a Latin hymn, the author of which is 
unknown. It is said to have been written about 
the seventeenth century, and has been ascribed 
to various writers. Little reliance, however, can 
be placed on statements which, at the best, are the 
merest guesses. There have been many transla- 
tions of the hymn, by far the most popular being 
that made by the compilers of Hymns Ancient 
and Modern. The following verse is particularly 
fine and suggests Sir Henry Baker :— 

Lord Jesus, Whom, by power Divine 

Now hidden ’neath the outward sign, 
We worship and adore, 

Grant, when the veil away is roll’d, 


With open face we may behold 
Thyself for evermore. 


174 COMMUNION HYMNS 


Ray Palmer, the American hymnist, and author 
of “My Faith looks up to Thee,” also made a 
translation of this hymn, the first line of which 
begins “O Bread to Pilgrims given.” This ver- 
sion is not very well-known in England but in 
America it is a great favourite, and one of the 
most frequently sung of all Communion hymns. 

James Montgomery never penned a more per- 
fect or pathetic hymn than his one for Huly 
Communion. This composition :— 


re 
of. ae eee. es 

LS OPS Sg Sa 

was written about the year 1824, and published a 
few months later in a collection of his hymns. 
In the original manuscript, kindly sent to me 
by a correspondent, this hymn is headed “ The 
Lord’s Supper,” and in one corner Montgomery 
has written “This do in remembrance of Me.” 


The second verse :— 


Thy Body, broken for my sake, 
My bread from Heaven shall be ; 
Thy testamental cup I take 
And thus remember Thee 


COMMUNION HYMNS 175 


does not appear to have been adhered to in all 
hymnals. In Thring’s collection it has been 
changed to :— 


Thy Body, broken for my sake, 
My bread from Heaven shall be; 
The cup, Thy precious Blood, I take, 
And thus remember Thee. 


It is interesting to note in the original MS. that 
Montgomery evidently desired that the words 
“will” and “me” in the first and last verses should 
be emphasised as he underlines both, the verses 
reading :— 

According to Thy gracious word, 
In meek humility, 

This will I do, my dying Lord, 
I wii/ remember thee. 

And when these failing lips grow dumb, 
And mind and memory flee, 


When Thou shalt in Thy Kingdom come, 
Jesus, remember me. 


This interesting manuscript is signed J. M., and 
the word “ dying ” in the first verse has been sub- 
stituted for “ precious,’ which the author has 
scored through. 

James Montgomery wrote about 400 hymns, of 
which some sixty may be said to have come into 
common use. He was also the author of many 


176 COMMUNION HYMNS 


prose works and volumes of poems which have 
sunk into oblivion. Montgomery himself does not 
appear to have had any very great opinion of his 
poems if we are to judge from the reply he gave 
when a Whitby solicitor asked him which of his 
works would live. “None, sir,’ replied the out- 
spoken poet, “nothing, except, perhaps, a few of 
my hymns.” He was a true prophet, for to-day 
while his hymns are remembered his poems and 
prose works have long since been forgotten. 

In the days of Pope Urban IV. the greatest of 
all Communion hymns was written—‘* Pange 
lingua gloriosi corporis mysterium,’ known to 
present time celebrants by the translation, “ Now, 
my tongue, the mystery telling.” This version is 
the work of the late Edward Caswall. It has, 
however, been considerably altered by various 
compilers. Other translations have been made by 
Neale, Isaac Williams, J. W. Irons and many 
others, but none of these has gained the popu- 
larity enjoyed by that based on Edward Caswall’s 
version. 

A hymn, not specially written for the service of 
Communion, but one which is admirably suited to 
that season, is “ Jesu, my Lord, my God, my All,” 
by the Rev. Henry Collins. This hymn, with its 
very beautiful refrain :— 


COMMUNION HYMNS 177 


Jesu, my Lord, I Thee adore, 
Oh make me love Thee more and more, 


has become a general favourite with all denomina- 
tions, and is to be found in a considerable number 
of hymnals. Strangely enough, Faber also wrote 
a hymn beginning “Jesu, my Lord, my God, my 
All,” in the same metre, and each verse concluding 
with the line “Oh make us love Thee more and 
more.” Father Faber’s hymn, however, does not 
appear to have found its way into any protestant 
hymnal. 

Mr. Henry Collins is one of our living hymnists, 
though for a great number of years he has pub- 
lished nothing. So far as I have been able to 
ascertain only two hymns by this author have 
come into general use, the one already referred to 
and a very beautiful hymn for Passiontide, the 
first verse of which reads :— 


Jesu, meek and lowly, 
Saviour, pure and holy, 
On Thy love relying, 
Hear me humbly crying, 


written on the text, “I, if I be lifted up from the 
earth, will draw all men unto Me.” 

Though brought up a member, and ordained a 
minister, of the Church of England, Mr. Collins, in 
1857, seceded to the Church of Rome, and soon 

F.H. 12 


= 
) 
4 
. 


178 COMMUNION HYMNS 


afterwards joined the Cistercian Order of Monks. 
In a short note received from him a year ago in 
answer to a request for a manuscript of his well- 
known hymn, I was informed that he was unable 
to send it as he now belonged to a cloistered order 
and therefore lived “apart from the world.” 

In placing Sir Henry Baker’s exquisite version 
of the 23rd Psalm under this chapter, I do 
so by reason of the following verse, which appears 
to me to render it a suitable Communion hymn:— 

Thou spread’st a table in my sight; 
Thy Unction grace bestcweth ; 


And oh, what transport of delight 
From Thy pure Chalice floweth. 


“The King of Love my Shepherd is,” was 
written by Sir Henry Baker in 1868 and published 
the same year in the appendix to his hymnal. 
It was one of the most popular of the new 
hymns, and Sir Henry was soon inundated 
with requests for permission to insert it in various 
collections, requests which he never refused. The 
author himself, I believe, wrote the first tune to 
this hymn, but, as it was not very successful, he 
sent the MS. to his friend, Dr. Dykes, who com- 
posed for it the very beautiful melody to which it 
has ever since been usually sung, and which he 
named “Dominus regit me.” It will further be 


COMMUNION HYMNS 179 


remembered that one of the late Charles Gounod’s 
most successful sacred songs was a setting of 
“The King of Love my Shepherd is.” 

Canon Ellerton, who was for many years a 
personal friend of Sir Henry Baker, says in a note 
on this hymn: “It may interest many to know 
that the verse :— 


Perverse and foolish oft I strayed, 
But yet in love He sought me, 

And on His shoulder gently laid, 
And home, rejoicing, brought me, 


was the last audible sentence upon the dying lips 
of the lamented author.” 

Sir Henry Baker’s last work was an edition of 
the Psalter and Canticles, pointed and set to 
appropriate chants, ancient and modern, which he 
edited in conjunction with his friend, the late Dr. 
Monk. It is greatly appreciated wherever used, 
and deserves to be more widely circulated. 

Besides being a hymnist, Sir Henry Baker was 
also something of a composer, several of the most 
popular tunes in his hymnal being from his own 
pen. Perhaps his most successful setting is that to 
“Art thou weary, art thou languid?” which he 
called “Stephanos,” a beautiful melody, which is 
as widely known as the hymn itself. Though Sir 


180 COMMUNION HYMNS 


Henry possessed a wonderful ear for music and 
great creative gifts of melody, he was not a master 
of composition, and the harmonies of his hymn 
tunes were in every case made by Dr. Monk. 

Hymns written on the Divine Love of Christ 
are specially suited for congregational singing 
during the administration of Holy Commun- 
ion. Such a hymn is “Hark, my soul! it is the 
Lord,” and a more tender and beautiful composi- 
tion it would be impossible to find in the whole 
range of hymnody. Was ever a more pathetic 
verse penned than the following :— 


Can a woman’s tender care 
Cease towards the child she bare? 
Yes, she may forgetful be, 
Yet will I remember Thee. 


“Hark, my soul!” was written by William 
Cowper about the year 1765, and afterwards pub- 
lished in the Olney Hymn Book. It was com- 
posed during that period, or soon after it, when 
the author was passing through a phase of melan- 
choly which threatened to end in madness. One 
of his delusions is said to have been a con- 
viction that he did not love his Maker with 
sufficient fervour, and the last verse of “ Hark, my 
soul!” rather supports the supposition :— 


THE REV. JOHN WESLEY, M.A. 


froman Engraving. 


MR. WILLIAM COWPER. 
From the painting by F. Bartolozzi, Esg., R A. 


COMMUNION HYMNS 181 


Lord, it is my chief complaint 
That my love is weak and faint ; 
Yet I love Thee and adore ; 

Oh for grace to love Thee more. 


Of all Cowper’s hymns this is the finest. It has 
been translated into many languages, and is to be 
found in every hymnal of any standing published 
during the last hundred years. It was one of the 
favourite hymns of the late W. E. Gladstone, who 
translated it into Italian a few years before his 
death. 

As an instance of the curious ideas children 
sometimes associate with a hymn, I was told by a 
lady who was in the habit of singing hymns to her 
little girl, aged six, in order to coax her to go to 
sleep, that “ Hark, my soul!” was the one which 
appeared to give the greatest amount of pleasure. 
One evening, on her mother singing a different 
hymn, the child complained and begged for “the 
other one” instead. Her mother, forgetting for 
the moment the hymn she meant, asked her how 
it began. The little one replied that she didn’t 
know, but it was about the “she-bear!” This was 
how the childish mind had construed the meaning 
of the two lines :— 


Can a woman’s tender care 
Cease towards the child she bare? 


182 COMMUNION HYMNS 


There is only one recognized tune to “ Hark, my 
soul!” though it is not improbable that many 
have been composed. This is “St. Bees,” by the 
late Dr. Dykes. In connexion with the writing of 
this exquisitely tender setting to Cowper’s lines, 
Mr. Bennet Kaye, of Durham, who was at one time 
assistant organist at Dr. Dyke’s church, tells me 
an incident which is not without interest. “ Dr. 
Dykes,” Mr. Kaye says, “used frequently to come 
to the boys’ rehearsals before morning service and 
begin practising with them the music of the day. 
Presently he would drift into something fresh, and 
the boys would remain perfectly still and listen 
entranced. On one occasion he wandered into a 
particularly beautiful melody, playing it over 
several times. The air made a lasting impression 
upon me, and afterwards, when it came to be pub- 
lished, I recognized in the tune to ‘ Hark, my 
soul! it is the Lord, the melody which had so 
greatly attracted me. Dr. Dykes named the tune 
‘St. Bees,’ from a little place where he had passed 
many pleasant hours.” 

Henry Kirke White’s “Oft in sorrow, oft in 
woe,” or, as originally written, “Much in sorrow, 
oft in woe,” I place among Communion hymns on 
the strength of the first verse, in which there 
appears to be an intention on the part of the 


COMMUNION HYMNS 183 


author that the composition should be used as a 
Sacramental hymn :— 


Much in sorrow, oft in woe, 

Onward, Christians, onward go, 

Fight the fight, and worn with strife ; 
Steep with tears the Bread of Life. 

This hymn has a curious history. When it 
was written is unknown, for it was not seen until 
after the death of the author. Soon after his 
decease, in 1806, his unpublished compositions 
were gathered together by a relative. Among the 
numerous papers which he had left behind were 
several sheets of ordinary foolscap, on which the 
young poet had evidently been working out prob- 
lems in algebra. On the back of one of these 
papers was the hymn beginning, “ Much in sorrow, 
oft in woe.” 

The hymn, as given in present-day hymnals, has 
been very much altered and added to, and the his- 
tory of this alteration and addition is as interest- 
ing as the story connected with the finding of the 
original composition. In 1827 Mrs. Fuller-Maitland 
published a volume of hymns and included in it a 
new version of “Much in sorrow, oft in woe,” written 
by her daughter Frances, a little girl barely four- 
teen years of age. It is thisversion, partly Henry 
Kirke White and partly Frances Fuller-Maitland, 


184 COMMUNION HYMNS 


which has become the most popular, being given 
in nearly all hymnals. The following are the verses 
which were composed by little Frances Fuller- 
Maitland :— 


Let your drooping hearts be glad; 
March in heavenly armour clad ; 
Fight, nor think the battle long ; 
Victory soon shall tune your song. 


Let not sorrow dim your eye; 

Soon shall every tear be dry; 

Let not fears your course impede; 
Great your strength if great your need. 


Onward, then, to battle move ; 

More than conquerors ye shall prove; 
Though opposed by many a foe, 
Christian soldiers, onward go. 


I had hoped to have been able to give a facsimile 
of this hymn, thinking that so interesting a MS. 
would have been certain of preservation, I 
therefore wrote to Mr. Potter Briscoe, the prin- 
cipal librarian of Nottingham Free Library, the 
town where Kirke White was born, and where 
he lived for many years, asking for information 
respecting the poet’s MSS. In reply, however, 
Mr. Briscoe says: “After many years of watching, 
I have at last arrived at the reluctant conclusion 
that there are no Kirke White MSS. in existence. 
I have been collecting material for a new edition of 


COMMUNION HYMNS 185 


White’s poems for many years, and my researches 
would certainly have brought them to light had 
they existed. Some years ago the housekeeper 
to the late Rev. Kirke Vivyan became possessed 
of MSS. of Kirke White and burnt them.” 

It is somewhat surprising to note how few are 
the hymns which have been specially written for 
the occasion—so impressive to the young—of 
first Communion. Nevertheless, though this is so, 
there are several hymns more particularly suited to 
those who are about to partake of their first Eucha- 
rist, and among these is one which, in hymnody, is 
accorded a very high place. I refer to:— 

O Jesus, I have promised 
To serve Thee to the end, 
by the late Mr. J. E. Bode. In a little volume 
dealing with the “ First Communion,” which I saw 
in the hands of a young communicant the other 
day, the following verse, taken from this hymn, had 
been inscribed on the title-page :— 


Oh let me feel Thee near me: 
The world is ever near; 

I see the sights that dazzle, 
The tempting sounds I hear ; 

My foes are ever near me, 
Around me and within ; 

But, Jesu, draw Thou nearer, 
And shield my soul from sin. 


186 COMMUNION HYMNS 


A more appropriate quotation could hardly have 
been chosen ; it is one which should be inscribed 
in all Communion books presented to young cele- 
brants. 

Mr. Bode was the author of two volumes of 
verse, one of which contained hymns specially 
suited to the festivals of the Church. With the 
exception of “O Jesus, I have promised,” very few, 
however, have gained any great hold on the 
public, and, in consequence, the author might be 
classed among the “one-hymn” writers. It is 
noticeable that, though Mr. Bode wrote in the 
original “O /esus, I have promised,” it has been 
changed in the majority of hymnals to “ O Jesu, I 
have promised,” but probably more for the sake of 
euphony than anything else. In all other respects 
the hymn appears exactly as the author wrote it 
—rather remarkable, considering the popularity to 
which it has ‘attained. 

“O Jesus, I have promised” was written about 
the year 1866, during the time when Mr. Bode 
was rector of Castle Camps, Cambridge. Like 
“Thine for ever, God of Love,” and several other 
hymns, it was specially composed for the author’s 
Confirmation classes It was not then sung to 
the melody which has become so familiar to us 
and which was specially written for it by Mr. J. 


COMMUNION HYMNS 187 


W. Elliott. This well-known tune, which the 
composer called “ Day of Rest,” has since come 
to be associated also with that very fine temper- 
ance hymn by the late Mr. S. J. Stone :— 
O Thou before whose Presence 
Nought evil may come in, 
Yet who dost look in mercy 
Down on this world of sin ; 
Oh give us noble purpose 
To set the sin-bound free, 
And Christ-like tender pity 
To seek the lost for Thee. 

Mr. Bode, after fourteen years of unremitting 
labour at Castle Camps, died in that town in 1874 
at the comparatively early age of fifty-eight. 

Another hymn which is also very ‘suitable for 
communicants who are attending their first cele- 
bration is :— 


O happy day that fixed my choice 
On Thee, my Saviour and my God ! 
Well may this glowing heart rejoice, 
And tell its raptures all abroad. 


This hymn, which is very frequently used at 
Confirmations, was written by Dr. Phillip Dod- 
dridge and published after his death. Though in 
the original it consists of five verses, these have 
in many collections been reduced to four, the 
verse generally omitted being the third :— 


188 COMMUNION HYMNS 


*Tis done, the great transaction’s done, 
I am my Lord’s, and He is mine; 

He drew me, and I followed on, 
Charmed to confess the voice Divine. 


Tennyson was once credited with having written 
this hymn, the mistake being due to a young 
reporter whose visits to church were probably few 
and far between. It appears that at the request 
of the late Queen Victoria “O happy day that 
fixed my choice” was sung at the Confirmation 
of one of the Royal children. The following day 
it was reported in one of the leading London 
journals that the hymn had been specially com- 
posed for the occasion by Tennyson, the Poet 
Laureate. Together with this startling announce- 
ment appeared some critical comments to the 
effect that if the Poet Laureate could write nothing 
better it was high time that objection was raised 
to his receiving national pay! 

“O happy day that fixed my choice” is one 
of Doddridge’s most successful hymns, and is to 
be found in a large number of hymnals though 
the one which is said to have the largest cir- 
culation omits it. It has been translated into 
numerous languages and is included in a great 
number of foreign missionary hymnals. It has 
never been very fortunate with regard to its 


* Se 


COMMUNION HYMNS 189 


setting, the melody to which it is usually sung 
being somewhat commonplace. 

“When I survey the wondrous Cross,” though 
originally intended for Good Friday services, is 
equally suited to Holy Communion. Written 
early in the eighteenth century by Isaac Watts, 
it has long since come to be regarded as that 
author’s greatest hymn. Strangely enough it is 
not found in so large a number of collections as 
many other hymns of lesser importance. In the 
original it consisted of five verses, but the follow- 
ing is now more frequently omitted than in- 
serted :— 

His dying crimson, like a robe, 
Spreads o’er His Body like a tree; 


Then am I dead to all the Globe, 
And all the Globe is dead to me. 


A story is related in connexion with “When I 
survey the wondrous Cross” which may be taken 
as an example of the absolutely meaningless 
manner in which a congregation will sometimes 
sing a hymn. It is told, I believe, of the late 
Rev. C. H. Spurgeon. It was in his early man- 
hood, before the days of those large offertories 
which were so ungrudgingly given during his 
ministry at the Tabernacle. His congregation 
had finished singing “ When I survey the wondrous 


: Ye gens 


190 COMMUNION HYMNS 


Cross” and Mr. Spurgeon was in the pulpit pre- 
paratory to beginning his discourse when, gazing 
somewhat mournfully upon his flock, he said: 
“Brethren, we have just finished singing Isaac 
Watts’ grand hymn: the last words you uttered 
were these,— 


Were the whole realm of Nature mine, 
That were a present far too small ; 
Love so amazing, so Divine, 
Demands my soul, my life, my all.” 


- Then softly repeating the lines— 


Were the whole realm of Nature mine, 
That, were a present far too small, 

he suddenly electrified his hearers by demanding 
whether they knew what the collection amounted 
to that morning. Without waiting for a reply, 
he quickly added, “I will tell you. Seventeen 
shillings and a penny. The whole realm of 
nature, of course, is not yours to give, but you 
can surely afford more than a paltry seventeen 
shillings and a penny. It is an insult to your 
Maker. Perhaps you did not realize what you 
were singing. I feel sure you did not, and in 
order that you may not go away unhappy there 
will be another collection at the close of the 
service.” 

Whether the story is true or not I cannot say 


i> 


COMMUNION HYMNS 1gt 


but it is certainly eminently characteristic of the 
great preacher. 

In some collections the following Doxology has 
been added to “When I survey the wondrous 
Cross.” It is not, however, by Watts— 


To Christ, who won for sinners grace 
By bitter grief and anguish sore, 
Be praise from all the ransomed race 

For ever and for evermore. 


The greatest of all Charles Wesley’s hymns, 
“Jesu, Lover of my soul” may, I think, be given 
a place in this chapter in consideration of the 
frequency with which it is sung during the cele- 
bration of the Holy Eucharist. Written for those 
who were passing through any period of special 
anxiety or temptation, it has been a comfort to 
countless thousands, The date of its composition 
indicates that it was one of the first of Charles 
Wesley’s hymns, being written soon after the 
author had completed his thirtieth year. I had 
hoped to have been able to give a reproduction in 
facsimile of this hymn from the manuscripts in the 
keeping of the Rev. Charles H. Kelly, but though 
we both searched untiringly through fourteen 
volumes we failed to bring it to light. Mr. Kelly, 
who has had a further search since, has reluctantly 


192 COMMUNION HYMNS 


come to the conclusion that it is not among those 
MSS. placed under his charge. 

Few hymns have had prettier legends woven 
about their birth than “Jesu, Lover of my 
soul.” Every one, of course, knows the story 
of the sea-bird which flew to Charles Wesley’s 
breast for protection from the storm. Equally 
well known is that which tells how a dove hunted 
by a hawk sought safety in a similar refuge. 
These and many other incidents have been associ- 
ated with the great hymn, and perhaps we should 
be glad to think that some of them are true. 


Whether they are or not it is impossible to say. . 


Certainly they have never been conclusively proved 
absolutely devoid of foundation. There is an old 
saying that a man should be believed until he 
has proved himself unworthy of belief, and the 
same maxim, with a slight variation, may be 
applied to these pretty stories regarding the 
greatest of all great hymns. 


IX 


bymns for bolp Matrimony, 
Missions, and “Those at Sea” 


HE number of hymns specially written for 

use at marriage ceremonies is not great, and 

of these only four may be said to have come into 

general favour. The one which now appears to be 

universally sung at all classes of weddings is Mrs. 
Dorothy Gurney’s :— 


O perfect Love, all human thought transcending, 
Lowly we kneel in prayer before Thy Throne, 
That theirs may be the love that knows no ending, 

Whom Thou for evermore dost join in one. 


This hymn was written in 1883. “I wrote it,” 
says the authoress in a letter before me, “for the 
wedding of my sister, now Mrs. Hugh Redmayne. 
It was written some few weeks before her marriage. 
The story of its composition is a very simple one 
and I gladly tell you the circumstances connected 
with it. We were all singing hymns one Sunday 

F.H. said 13 


194 HYMNS FOR HOLY MATRIMONY 


evening, and had just finished ‘O Strength and 
Stay,’ the tune to which was an especial favourite 
of my sister’s, when some one remarked what a 
pity it was that the words should be unsuitable for 
a wedding. My sister, turning suddenly to me, 
said :—‘ What is the use of a sister who composes 
poetry if she cannot write me new words to this 
tune. I picked up a hymn-book and said :— 
‘ Well, if nobody will disturb me I will go into the 
library and see what I cando.’ After about fifteen 
minutes I came back with the hymn ‘O perfect 
Love’ and there and then we all sang it to the 
tune of ‘Strength and Stay.’ It went perfectly 
and my sister was delighted, saying that it must be 
sung at her wedding. For two or three years it 
was sung privately at many London weddings and 
then it found its way into the hymnals. The 
writing of it was no effort whatever after the 
initial idea had come to me of the two-fold aspect 
of perfect union, love and life, and I have always 
felt that God helped me to write it.” 

In the great dearth of marriage hymns “O 
perfect Love” was so much welcomed that it is 
now to be found in almost every sort of hymnal of 
the Christian Church. The authoress has received 
letters regarding it from all parts of the world, and 
it has been translated into many languages. Sir 


HYMNS FOR HOLY MATRIMONY | 105 


Joseph Barnby set it to music for the wedding of 
the Princess Louise of Wales, and few fashionable 
marriages are now celebrated without it being 
sung. Mrs. Gurney says she is thankful that what 
she intended for one family only has been so great 
a help and pleasure to others. 

The melody for which this hymn was written is 
one by the late Dr. Dykes which he specially 
composed for John Ellerton’s translation of the 
Latin hymn :— 

O Strength and Stay upholding all creation, 
Who ever dost Thyself unmoved abide, 


Yet day by day the light in due gradation 
From hour to hour through all its changes guide. 


“QO perfect Love” goes excellently to this tune, in 
fact it seems to suit it rather better than the one 
composed by Dr. Barnby. 

“The Voice that breathed o’er Eden” has long 
since been a favourite wedding hymn. It is 
usually sung at the commencement of the cere- 
mony and its plaintive melody gives to it a touch 
of what may be described as a happy solemnity. 
It was written by John Keble when he had 
reached the age of sixty-five, and he therefore never 
lived to see the day when it would be sung at 
nearly every wedding in the land. It has been 
slightly altered from time to time by various 


196 HYMNS FOR HOLY MATRIMONY 


hymnal editors and the following verse is usually 
omitted :— 
For dower of blesséd children, 
For love and faith’s sweet sake, 


For high mysterious union 
Which nought on earth may break. 


In many cases the first line of the fourth verse 
“ Be present, awful Father” has been changed to 
“Be present, Holy Father” which is an improve- 
ment. 

The “Voice that breathed o’er Eden” is 
interesting not only by reason of the great 
popularity to which it has attained, but also from 
the fact that it was probably one of the last hymns 
the author ever penned. No other of Keble’s 
hymns which has gained any degree of celebrity 
bears a later date than this one and it appeared in 
no work by him published during his life. It was 
written by special request and has proved but 
another instance of the success which occasionally 
attends the writing of a hymn “ to order.” 

The melody with which this hymn is usually 
associated and which is known by the title of “ St. 
Alphege,” was not specially written for it though 
there is a general impression to the contrary. It 
appears that the late Dr. Gauntlett really wrote 
the tune to “ Brief life is here our portion” but it 


HYMNS FOR HOLY MATRIMONY 3197 


was afterwards found to suit Keble’s hymn so well 
that a new tune was thought to be unnecessary. 
It has therefore ever since been usually sung to 
“St. Alphege.” 

“How welcome was the call,” another very 
popular marriage hymn, was written by the late 
Sir Henry Baker for the first edition of his 
hymnal. At that time there was actually only 
one other wedding hymn of any degree of 
popularity in existence, and that was Keble’s 
“The Voice that breathed o’er Eden.” Sir 
Henry saw, therefore, how essential it was that at 
least a couple of marriage hymns should appear 
in his hymnal and he wrote “How welcome 
was the call,” which was set to music by his 
friend Dr. Gauntlett. Though the extreme 
searcity of marriage hymns may be in some way 
accountable for its immediate success, it is 
undeniably one of the best of the author’s many 
beautiful hymns and in every way deserving of its 
great popularity. 

The hymn, of course, is based on the words 
taken from St. John: “ Both Jesus was called, and 
His disciples, to the marriage,” the author taking 
as his subject the wedding feast at Cana. 

No MS. of “How welcome was the call” 
appears to be in existence. Indeed, without 


198 HYMNS FOR HOLY MATRIMONY 


exception, all the hymnal manuscripts of Sir Henry 
Baker seem to have been either destroyed or lost. 
Probably the very fact of his being the editor of 
the hymnal for which his compositions were 
written would account for his carelessness regard- 
ing their preservation in manuscript, and it is not 
at all unlikely that when they were returned from 
the printers he threw them into the waste-paper 
basket. In a letter received some time ago from 
the Chairman to the Committee of the hymnal 
with which Sir Henry’s name is inseparably 
associated I was informed that no manuscript 
of any of Sir Henry Baker’s hymns was known 
to exist, and the same information has been 
given me since by many relatives of the late 
hymnist. 

“ How welcome was the call” is one of the few 
hymns which have escaped alteration, appearing 
in all collections exactly as the author wrote it. 

Another marriage hymn which, like “ The Voice 
that breathed o’er Eden,” owes its origin to a 
request received from a friend, is the late John 


Ellerton’s :— 


O Father, all-creating, 

Whose wisdom, love, and power 
First bound two lives together 

In Eden’s primal hour, 


HYMNS FOR HOLY MATRIMONY 199 


To-day, to these Thy children 
Thine earliest gift renew,— 
A home by Thee made happy, 
A love by Thee kept true. 


A somewhat interesting incident is connected 
with this hymn. It was written when Canon 
Ellerton was Rector of Barnes, and at the special 
request of the late Duke of Westminster. It 
appears that a short while before the marriage of 
his daughter to the Marquis of Ormonde, the Duke 
either wrote to, or saw, Canon Ellerton and asked 
him if he would be willing to compose a hymn for 
the occasion. The hymnist cheerfully consented 
and a few days later sent the Duke the MS. of “O 
Father, all-creating” with which his Grace was 
very much pleased. This was in 1876 but it was 
not until four years later that it appeared in any 
hymnal, the first to publish it being Prebendary 
Thring in his well-known collection. In that 
hymnal it appearsin a slightly altered form, the 
first lines having been changed from the original 


to :— 
O Father, all-creating, 
Whose wisdom and whose power 
First bound two lives together 
In Eden’s primal hour. 


The omission of the word “ love” rather detracts 
from the beauty of the verse, 


BOP eo.) Mee ae 
’ we , 


200 HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 


This is not the only hymn Canon Ellerton 
wrote “to order.” Indeed, he was accustomed to 
receive requests for hymns on all sorts of subjects, 
sometimes from people he had never seen. In 
many cases when the subject suggested was one 
on which he considered a hymn would be useful he 
complied with the request, and in this way many 
of his hymns are said to have originated. 

The most popular of all missionary hymns is 
undoubtedly “ From Greenland’s icy mountains” 
by Bishop Heber. It was written as far back as 
1819 at Wrexham, where Heber’s father-in-law, 
Dr. Shipley, Dean of St. Asaph, was vicar. The 
story of its composition is one which has been told 
many times but which will bear repetition. Briefly, 
the circumstances are these. On Whitsunday Dr, 
Shipley was to preach in Wrexham Church a 
sermon in aid of the Society for the Propagation of 
the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and Reginald Heber, 
then Vicar of Hodnet, happened to be staying at 
the vicarage at the time. On the Saturday pre- 
ceding Whitsunday the Dean, Heber and a few 
friends were collected together in the library, when 
the Dean asked his son-in-law to write something 
for them to sing in the morning—something 
appropriate to the subject on which his discourse 
would be based. MHeber, readily consenting, 


THE REV. ISAAC WATTS, D.D. 
From a Painting. 


THE RIGHT REV. BISHOP REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 
From the painti by T. Phillips, Fsq., R.A. 


fainting by T. Phillips, Es 


HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 201 


retired to the further end of the room for the 
purpose. 

After some fifteen minutes silence Dr. Shipley 
called out and asked what he had written, to 
which Heber replied by reading aloud :— 


Pum Salinas Badia 


aed prarg wnat ve 


and so on to the end of the third verse. His 
listeners were delighted and would have had the 
hymn remain without any addition, but Heber 
answered “No, the sense is not complete,” and 
silence reigning once more he quickly wrote the 
fourth verse :— 
Waft, waft, ye winds, His story, 
And you, ye waters, roll, 
Till like a sea of glory 
It spreads from pole to pole; 
Till o’er our ransomed nature 
The Lamb for sinners slain, 


Redeemer, King, Creator, 
In bliss returns to reign. 


He afterwards gave the hymn to the Dean, who 
turned a deaf ear to his subsequent requests to be 


202 HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 


allowed to write another verse. The next morn- 
ing it was sung for the first time in Wrexham 
Church, 

The original MS. of “From Greenland’s icy 
mountains” was for many years in the possession 
of the late Dr. Raffles, of Liverpool, himself a 
hymn-writer of some note. Popular tradition 
round Wrexham has it that a compositor in the 
printing works sold the MS. for a pint of ale; but 
it is far more likely that Dr. Raffles obtained it 
direct from the printer who was a personal friend 
of his. A few years since Dr. Raffles’ effects were 
sold and among other objects of interest put up for 
auction was this identical MS. After some 
spirited bidding it was “knocked down” to an 
unknown buyer for the sum of forty guineas. On 
the authority of the auctioneer the MS. is now in 
America. 

“From Greenland’s icy mountains” is one of the 
finest examples of spontaneous writing we possess. 
It was written in twenty minutes, which gives an 
average of five minutes to each verse of eight lines, 
and the only correction Heber ever made was in 
the second verse where he substitutes the word 
“heathen” for that of “ savage.” 

Among the many fine hymns by the late Rev. 
S. J. Stone, none, to my thinking, has ever sur- 


HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 203 


passed the one he wrote for Foreign Missions in 
1871 :— 

Through midnight gloom from Macedon 

The cry of myriads as of one, 

The voiceful silence of despair 

Is eloquent in awful prayer, 

The soul’s exceeding bitter cry, 

“Come o’er and help us, or we die.” 


It is equal in all respects to his “ The Church’s 
one Foundation,” and some of the stanzas surpass 


it. Few finer verses were ever written than the 
fourth :— 


Yet with that cry from Macedon 
The very car of Christ rolls on ; 

““T come—who would abide My day 
In yonder wilds prepare My way ; 
My voice is crying in their cry ; 
Help ye the dying, lest ye die.” 

Mr. Stone based this hymn on the words taken 
from the Acts of the Apostles :—“And a vision 
appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a 
man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come 
over into Macedonia, and help us. And after he 
had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured 
to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the 
Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto 
them.” 


“Through midnight gloom from Macedon” 


204 HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 


is not the only mission hymn Mr. Stone has 
written, though it is by far the best known. His 
“Far off our brethren’s cry” and “Lord of the 
harvest, it is right and meet,” both written about 
the same time as his more popular hymn, are very 
fine and deserve to be in every hymnal. 

A hymn for Foreign Missions, written by the 
late Mr. Henry Downton takes a high place 
among such compositions. This is :— 

Lord! her watch Thy Church is keeping ; 
When shall earth Thy rule obey? 

When shall end the night of weeping? 
When shall break the promised day? 

See the whitening harvest ianguish, 
Waiting still the labourers’ toil : 

Was it vain—Thy Son’s deep anguish? 
Shall the strong retain the spoil ? 

This hymn was written at Geneva, where Mr. 
Downton was Resident English Chaplain, and it 
owes its origin to the intense interest the author 
took in all matters connected with Foreign 
Missions. He was a frequent visitor to the 
Society’s meetings, and it was during one of these 
gatherings that the desire to write a hymn suited 
to such occasions came to him. In the year 1866, 
some time previous to the annual meeting of the 
Church Missionary Society, Mr. Downton wrote 
the hymn “Lord! her watch Thy Church is 


HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 205 


keeping.” It was subsequently sung at the meet- 
ing for that year, though to what tune I am 
unable to say. When it came to be inserted in 
the hymnals it was usually associated with Smart’s 
setting entitled “Everton,” a tune which was 
originally written for Ellerton’s “ King of Saints, 
to whom the number.” 

Mr. Downton, who was for many years Rector 
of Hopton, was the author of several volumes of 
prose works as well as a book of hymns and short 
poems. From the latter several compositions 
have been taken for various collections, though 
not one of them has obtained the great popularity 
which his mission hymn enjoys. In America 
“Lord, her watch Thy Church is keeping” is an 
especial favourite and vies with “The Church’s 
one Foundation” in point of popularity. It has 
been translated into various languages and dialects, 
and is to be found in many missionary hymnals. 

To Isaac Watts we owe that very fine hymn, 
which has for so many years been almost indis- 
pensable at all meetings held in connexion with 
Foreign Missions :— 


Jesus shall reign where’er the sun 

Doth his successive journeys run ; 

His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 
Till suns shall rise and set no more. 


206 HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 


This hymn forms the second part of Dr. Watts’ 
metrical version of the 72nd Psalm, and must 
have been written very early in the eighteenth cen- 
tury. In most hymnals the following verses are 
omitted :— 


For Him shall endless prayer be made, 
And praises throng to crown His Head ; 
His name like sweet perfume shall rise 
With every morning sacrifice. 


Where He displays His healing power, 
Death and the curse are known no more: 
In Him the tribes of Adam boast 

More blessings than their father lost. 


From Mr. G. J. Stevenson’s Notes on the Metho- 
dist Hymn Book, \ quote the following, which has 
special reference to “ Jesus shall reign ” :— 

“Perhaps one of the most interesting occasions 
on which this hymn was used was that on which 
King George, the sable, of the South Sea Islands, 
but of blessed memory, gave a new constitution to 
his people, exchanging a heathen for a Christian 
form of government. Under the spreading 
branches of the banyan trees sat some thousand 
natives from Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa, on Whit- 
sunday, 1862, assembled for Divine worship. 
Foremost amongst them all sat King George him- 
self. Around him were seated old chiefs and 


vey 


HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 207 


warriors who had shared with him the dangers 
and fortunes of many a battle—men whose eyes 
were dim, and whose powerful frames were bowed 
down with the weight of years. But old and 
young alike rejoiced together in the joys of that 
day, their faces most of them radiant with Chris- 
tian joy, love, and hope. It would be impossible 
to describe the deep feeling manifested when the 
solemn service began, by the entire audience sing- 
ing Dr. Watts’ hymn :— 

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun 

Doth his successive journeys run; 


His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 
Till suns shall rise and set no more. 


Who so much as they could realize the full mean- 
ing of the poet’s words ? for they had been rescued 
from the darkness of heathenism and cannibalism 
and they were that day met for the first time 
under a Christian constitution, under a Christian 
king, and with Christ Himself reigning in the 
hearts of most of those present. That was indeed 
Christ’s kingdom set up in the earth.”: 

Of all missionary hymns, “ Jesus shall reign,” is 
probably the best known. It has been written 
now for close upon two hundred years, and in all 
likelihood it was one of the first hymns introduced 
into heathen countries penetrated by English 


208 HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 


missionaries. It has been translated into more 
languages and dialects than any other of Dr. 
Watts’ hymns, and it would probably be a difficult 
matter to find a present day missionary hymnal 
in which it is not included. 

The favourite setting to which this hymn is 
usually sung, and. which is known by the title 
of “ Galilee,” was composed by the late Dr. Philip 
Armes. 

A mission hymn which has gained a good deal 
of popularity during the last half century is :— 


Thou, Whose Almighty Word 

Chaos and darkness heard, 
And took their flight ; 

Hear us, we humbly pray, 

And where the Gospel-day 

Sheds not its glorious ray, 
Let there be light. 


The metre of this hymn naturally suggests the 
National Anthem, and on many occasions it has 
been sung to the same melody. Whether it was 
written with this idea it would be somewhat: 
difficult to say. It is not at all unlikely, how- 
ever, that the author considered it would be 
to the advantage of a hymn if it were written 
to a tune already known practically all over 
the world, and that by a happy inspiration he 


HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 209 


hit on the National Anthem. The hymn was 
written early in the nineteenth century by the 
Rev. J. Marriott, who was for many years Rector 
of Church Lawford. So far as I can discover Mr. 
Marriott was the author of very few hymns, and 
of these the only one which can be said to have 
come into general use is his “Thou, Whose Al- 
mighty Word.” Mr. Marriott died in 1825 at the 
early age of forty-six. 

“Lift up your heads, ye gates of brass” is 
James Montgomery’s best known mission hymn. 
It is said to have been written while the author 
was in prison doing penance for an injudicious 
article published in his paper, the Sheffield Iris. 
Whether this is so or not it would be difficult to 
say ; there is certainly no record to this effect in 
the poet’s life. It is true that he underwent several 
terms of imprisonment, but that was during his 
early days, ere he had reached his twenty-fifth 
year, and long before any of his hymns were pub- 
lished. Ina little volume which was issued soon 
after his terms of imprisonment had expired, and 
which he called Prison Amusements, no hymns 
appear. In all probability, therefore, “Lift up 
your heads, ye gates of brass” has no connexion 
whatever with his prison life. 

Montgomery took the greatest interest in all 

F.H. 14 


210 HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 


foreign missions, and by his lectures and influence 
did much to spread the good work of sending 
missionaries into foreign lands. 

In some hymnals the following verses contained 
in “Lift up your heads” are omitted :— 


A holy war those servants wage, 
In that mysterious strife ; 

The powers of Heaven and hell engage 
For more than death or life. 


Follow the Cross ; the ark of peace 
Accompany your path, 

To slaves and rebels bring release 
From bondage and from wrath. 


This hymn is to be found in most collections 
‘used by foreign missionaries, and is well-known in 
the mission fields of India, Western Africa and 
China. It is usually sung to Myles Foster’s 
“Crucis Victoria” (originally written for Isaac 
Watts’ hymn, “Give us the wings of faith to rise”) 
or to a melody from Este’s Psalter, and known by 
the title of “Winchester.” This latter tune is more 
closely associated with “ While shepherds watched 
their flocks by night,” but suits the mission hymn 
very well. The melody dates back to the year 
1592. 

One of the finest missionary hymns in the 
language comes to us from an American source. 


HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 211 


This is “Saviour, sprinkle many nations,” by the 
late Arthur Cleveland Coxe, Bishop of Western 
New York. This hymn was begun in America in 
1850, one Good Friday. Bishop Coxe could not 
finish it at the time, and it was laid aside to await 
the day when the spirit should move him to com- 
plete it. The following year he visited England, 
and while walking in the grounds of Magdalen 
College, Oxford, the thought occurred to him that 
“Saviour, sprinkle many nations” was still un- 
completed. He therefore took a scrap of paper 
from his pocket and with a pencil wrote the con- 
cluding verse to this very beautiful hymn. 

I cannot refrain from quoting the second stanza 
of this hymn which appears to me to be one of 
the very finest eight line verses in the language :— 

Far and wide, though all unknowing, 
Pants for Thee each mortal breast ; 
Human tears for Thee are flowing, 
Human hearts in Thee would rest ; 
Thirsting, as for dews of even, 
As the new-mown grass for rain, 
Thee they seek, as God of heaven, 
Thee as Man for sinners slain. 

Curiously enough this hymn, together with 
many others by the same author, though found 
in a great number of collections has been omitted 
from the American Episcopal hymnal. Of course 


212 HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 


there is a reason for this and it is a very simple 
one. Bishop Coxe unfortunately happened to be 
on the committee appointed to select the hymns 
for a new collection to be issued in connexion 
with his own diocese. The hymns were selected 
by ballot, and he begged the committee as a 
favour to abstain from voting for any of his own 
compositions. They respected his wish, and, in 
consequence, though his hymns are published in 
every other collection in America, they do not 
appear in that used by his own Church. 

After fulfilling the arduous duties of Bishop of 
Western New York for thirty-one years, Dr. Coxe 
died at Buffalo in 1896, at the age of seventy- 
eight. 

“God of mercy, God of grace,” by the Rev. 
Henry Francis Lyte, is generally looked upon as a 
mission hymn, and is to be found in several collec- 
tions used in the mission field. It was one of Mr. 
Lyte’s earliest hymns and was written, not at 
Berry Head, the birthplace of “ Abide with me,” 
but at Burton House, about a mile distant from 
the more historic building. This house, which is 
situated in Lower Brixham (Berry Head is also in 
the lower town) was the residence of Mr. Lyte for 
many years. On each side of the entrance to the 
house are very fine weeping willows, and residents 


HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 213 


will tell you that they were planted by the late 
hymnist himself, and further, that they came 
originally from Napoleon’s grave. Dr. Mayer, 
the present resident of Burton House, however, 
tells me that though it is quite true that Mr. 
Lyte planted there a couple of trees which he 
brought as saplings from St. Helena, he fears 
they are not the two which now flourish so 
healthily in the front garden of his house. I was 
shown the remains of two other trees which had 
long since shed their last leaves, and these, it is 
thought, were the ones planted by Mr. Lyte about 
the year 1825. 

“God of mercy, God of grace,” which is written 
in the same metre as the author’s well-known 
“Pleasant are Thy courts above,” with the ex- 
ception that the verses consist of six lines in- 
stead of eight, is to be found in his volume of 
hymns called The Spirit of the Psalms. It has 
not been altered by hymnal editors and appears 
in the majority of collections exactly as it was 
written. . 

Mr. Percival H. W. Almy, the author of Scin- 
tillae Carmenis,a volume of poems which should 
rank high among the works of our minor poets, 
in an interesting and appreciative account of 
Mr. Lyte’s life published some years ago, says 


214 HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 


that among the most attractive characteristics of 
the hymnist was his passionate love for animals. 

“One of his pets,” writes Mr. Almy, “was a 
tame eagle. This eagle ‘chummed’ with a certain 
jackdaw—an impudent, republican sort of jack- 
daw, who waxed insolent and publicly abused his 
feathered majesty. The royal bird upon the first 
opportunity seized the miscreant and killed and 
ate him. 

“In a field that at one time belonged to Mr. 
Lyte, just outside the town of Brixham, reposes all 
that is mortal of honest ‘Var.’ The tomb is let 
into a high bank, and the tablet that marks the 
spot bears the following inscription :— 

Here lies 


a v4 A Re 
Lap-dog of the Rt. Honourable Lady Farnham. 


Breathe, gentle spring, breathe on this grassy mound, 
And sing ye birds, and bloom ye flowers around, 
Ye suns and dews make green the resting-place 
Of honest Var, the noblest of his race ; 
Gentle yet fearless, active, fond and true, 
He reads, proud man, a lesson here to you, 
And bids you (happy might you hear) to be 
Guiltless in life and calm in death as he. 
Go, and as faithful to your Master prove, 
As firm in duty and as strong in love, 
You will not find this moment here misspent 
In musing o’er a spaniel’s monument. 

May, 1826. 


HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 215 


“These lines are Mr. Lyte’s own composition, 
and I had considerable difficulty in deciphering 
them. This genuine relic of a great man isina 
sad state of decay.” 

A hymn which is a general favourite with home 
missions is Charlotte Elliott’s “Just as I am, with- 
out one plea.” There is a generally credited story 
that the writing of this famous hymn was due to 
the following incident :— 

“One day the pastor of a small church met in 
the street a young member of his congregation on 
her way to be fitted for a new dress which she con- 
templated wearing at an approaching ball. After 
she had told him her errand he said to her, ‘I wish 
you would give up your life of vanity and become a 
Christian, and lead a godly life. Will you not stay 
away from the ball because I wish you to do so?’ 
She answered, ‘I wish you would mind your own 
business, and bidding him a cheerful good-bye, 
went on her way.” 

That girl is supposed to have been the 
authoress of “Just as I am”—Miss Charlotte 
Elliott. The story goes on to say that she went to 
the ball and danced through the night. When she 
returned, tired and weary, her conscience smote 
her, and she went the next day to her pastor and 
asked his forgiveness for the words she had spoken. 


216 HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 


“*T am the most wretched girl in the world, 

she said. ‘What must I do to be saved?’ The 
“pastor directed her to come to God just as she 
was. ‘What! just as I am?’ she exclaimed in 
astonishment. ‘Yes,’ replied the pastor, ‘just as 
you are. On her return home she knelt beside 
her bed and prayed to God to accept her just as 
she was ; then, rising from her knees, she got out 
her writing materials and wrote the well-known 
hymn :— 

“Just as I am, without one plea, 

But that Thy Blood was shed for me, 


And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee, 
O Lamb of God, I come.” 


This little story, charming though it is, cannot 
be relied upon; for the hymn was written in 1834, 
when Miss Elliott was forty-five years old—an 
age at which she could hardly be referred to as 
a “young girl.” 

From Mrs. Synge, a niece of the authoress, 
I some time ago received an interesting and 
authentic account of the origin of this most 
popular hymn. 

“Tn 1834,” says Mrs. Synge, “ Miss Elliott was 
residing at Brighton, in a house long since pulled 
down, called Westfield Lodge. Her brother, the 
Rev. H. V. Elliott, having conceived the plan of 


HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 217 


erecting a college at Brighton for the education of 
the daughters of the poorer clergy, a bazaar was 
held in order to assist in raising the necessary 
money. All the members of Westfield Lodge 
were busy—all except Charlotte, who was weak 
and ill. The night before the bazaar she lay toss- 
ing on her bed, consumed with the thoughts of her 
own apparent uselessness. 

“The day of the bazaar came, and Charlotte still 
lay upon her sofa. She continued in deep thought 
long after every one had gone to the bazaar ; then 
came a sudden feeling of peace and contentment. 
Taking a sheet of paper from the table beside her 
she wrote the verses by which her name is now 
held most dear, without any apparent effort. 

“When her sister-in-law, Mrs. H. V. Elliott, re- 
turned, she found the hymn, neatly written out, 
lying on the table. She read it and then asked 
for a copy. In 1845 it was printed in the form of 
a leaflet, without the knowledge of the authoress. 
It was unsigned, and a short time afterwards a 
friend brought a copy and gave it to Miss Elliott 
with the words, ‘I am sure this will please you.’ 

Like Dr. Doddridge, Charlotte Elliott was an 
invalid for the greater part of her life. She lived 
to the age of eighty-two, and her compositions are 
to be found in every hymnal published during the 


218 HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 


last fifty years. Referring one day to “ Just as I 
am,” the brother of the late hymnist stated :—“ In 
the course of a long ministry I hope I have been 
permitted to see some fruit of my labour, but I feel 
that far more has been done by a single hymn of 
my sister's.” 

I much regret that I am unable to show a MS. 
of “Just as I am.” I have corresponded on 
the subject with many of the late Miss Elliott’s 
relatives, who all assure me that so far as they are 
aware no hymns in the handwriting of this author 
have been preserved. 

Another hymn which is usually associated with 
home missions is :— 


There were ninety and nine that safely lay 
In the shelter of the fold, 
But one was out on the hills away 
Far off from the gates of gold; 
Away on the mountains wild and bare, 
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care. 


This hymn was written by Miss Elizabeth 
Cecilia Clephane, the daughter of the Sheriff of 
Fife. It is said to have been composed while 
the authoress was still at school and was first 
scribbled in one of her exercise books. Whether 
this was so or not the hymn remained unpublished 


HYMNS FOR MISSIONS 219 


until after the authoress’s death, which took place in 
1869 before she had completed her thirty-eighth 
year. 

“There were ninety and nine” has come to 
be associated in the minds of many with “Tell me 
the old, old story,” and has, indeed, on more than 
one occasion been ascribed to Miss Hankey. 
Perhaps this is owing to its having been, like 
the latter, very successfully set to music by Mr. 
Ira D. Sankey. It is related that one day when 
Mr. Sankey was on his way to attend one of the 
great meetings with which his name is associated, 
and to which he had to travel by train, he bought 
a paper to idle away the time. While perusing 
this his eye lighted upon Miss Clephane’s hymn. 
He was much struck by the simplicity and beauty 
of the poem, and determined to sing it at the 
meeting that night. Towards the close of the 
service he went to the piano, and doubling up 
the paper placed it before him on the music- 
rest. Then he struck a few chords and began 
to sing the hymn to a melody which he com- 
posed as he went along. When he was nearing 
the end of the first stanza the unpleasant thought 
struck him that possibly he might forget the 
original melody when he came to the second 
verse. His fears were groundless, however, and 


220 HYMNS FOR “THOSE AT SEA” 


he sang the second verse with equal success. 
“ After that,’ he is reported to have said, “the 
rest was easy, and the hymn made a deep im- 
pression on the vast assembly.” 

Soon after this it was inserted in Mr. Sankey’s 
collection and was ever after a great favourite at 
all the meetings held by the celebrated American 
Missioners. | 

Miss Clephane was the author of several other 
hymns, none of which, however, has attained to 
the popularity enjoyed by “There were ninety 
and nine.” She took the greatest interest in the 
welfare of children, and her early death was a 
great loss to the poor of Edinburgh, where her 
influence, strengthened by unfailing sympathy 
and charity, was immense. 

Of the hymns specially suited to “Those at 
sea” one of the finest is that by St. Anatolius, 
rendered familiar to us by Dr. Neale’s spirited 
translation :— 


Fierce was the wild billow, 
Dark was the night ; 
Oars laboured heavily, 
Foam glimmered white ; 
Trembled the mariners, 
Peril was nigh! 
Then said the Lord of Lords, 
“Peace l xt is 11? 


HYMNS FOR “THOSE AT SEA” 221 


This hymn does not appear to be in as many 
collections as one would suppose, seeing that it is 
suited to occasions for which few really good 
hymns have been written. It is certainly one of 
the finest hymns we possess either for use at sea 
or on dry land when the wind is blowing and there 
is danger out on the deep. It first appeared in 
Dr. Neale’s Hymns of the Eastern Church, together 
with many other compositions which are now 
among the prized possessions of our Church. That 
Dr. Neale experienced more difficulty in making 
his Greek translations than he did those from the 
Latin may be gathered from the preface to his 
little volume. He says :— 

“Though the superior terseness and brevity of 
the Latin hymns renders a translation which shall 
represent those qualities a work of great labour, 
yet still the versifier has the help of the same 
metre ; his version may be line for line ; and there 
is a great analogy between the collects and the 
hymns, most helpful to the translator. Above all, 
we have examples enough of former translation by 
which we may take pattern. But in attempting a 
Greek canon, from the fact of its being in prose 
(metrical hymns, as the reader will learn, are un- 
known) one is all at sea. What measure shall 
we employ? Why this more than that? Might 


222 HYMNS FOR “THOSE AT SEA” 


we attempt the rhythmical prose of the original, 
and design it to be chanted? Again, the great 
length of the canons renders them unsuitable 
for our churches as wholes. Is it better simply 
to form centos of the more beautiful passages? 
or can separate odes, each necessarily imperfect, 
be employed as separate hymns? And above all 
we have no pattern or example of any kind to 
direct our labour.” Further on Dr. Neale says: 
“My own belief is, that the best way to employ 
Greek hymnology for the uses of the English 
Church would be by centos.” 

In spite of these difficulties, and the fact-that 
Dr. Neale was the first to make translations from 
the Greek, he still remains our most successful 
translator. 

“ Fierce was the wild billow” does not consist of 
centos, but is a translation of the complete hymn. 
Nearly all the hymnal compositions by St. Anato- 
lius—and they number over a hundred—are short 
and terse, and therefore Neale’s suggestion that it 
is better to employ centos was not always neces- 
sary in the case of this hymnist. The last verse 
of “Fierce was the wild billow” is exceptionally 
beautiful, and as it may not be known to all 
my readers I give it :-— 


HYMNS FOR “THOSE AT SEA” 223 


Jesu, Deliverer ! 
Come Thou to me; 

Soothe Thou my voyaging 
Over life’s sea: 

Thou, when the storm of death 
Roars, sweeping by, 

Whisper, O Truth of Truth, 
“Peace! it is 1!” 


Another hymnist, whose reputation rests on a 
single contribution, is the late Mr. William Whiting. 
He will be forgotten only when men cease to go 
down to the sea in ships, for he was the author 
of that very striking and popular hymn :— 


Reed Fither! Grace ' 
Lrhoce Arm deth bono Ihe w0etles wore, 
lnthen le SounSe ahmdle afprntid Keofe; 


To the British sailor this hymn is as familiar as 
“Rule Britannia” or “Tom Bowling,” and I would 
venture to say that it is quite as well known to the 
average Jack Tar as the Lord’s Prayer or any one 
of the Ten Commandments. Neither is it a stranger 
in the French N avy, for a translation appears in 
the Mouveau Livre Cantique (the hymnal in use on 
the French men-of-war), with the tender and beau- 
tiful refrain :— 


224 HYMNS FOR “THOSE AT SEA” 


Vois nos pleurs, entends nos sanglots, 
Pour ceux en péril sur les flots. 


I remember some time ago showing my collec- 
tion of hymnal manuscripts to a young sailor (on 
his expressing a wish to see them) who had just 
returned from a voyage round the world. He was 
a serious and excellent young fellow, but he tossed 
those manuscripts over in a manner which made 
me nervous ; my most prized hymns he scarcely 
looked at. “ Where’s the sea-hymn?” he said at 
last. “What sea-hymn?” I answered; “ There’s 
‘Fierce raged the tempest,’ if that’s the one you 
mean.” “No,” he answered, “not that one, though 
‘it’s a fine hymn and one we often sing on board ; 
I mean the one for those in peril on the sea.” I 
had not got it then, nor did I know that it was in 
existence until a correspondent wrote to me sug- 
gesting that I should write to the deceased hymnist’s 
son. I did so, and by return of post came a volume 
of Mr. Whiting’s original hymns, all written in the 
author’s wonderfully clear, well-formed hand. This 
interesting volume of manuscripts contains three 
versions of “Eternal Father! strong to save.” To 
one Mr. Whiting has added the date, February 
gth, 1875, and the words, “This is my final 


version.” 


HYMNS FOR “THOSE AT SEA” 225 


A friend of the late Mr. Whiting sends me the 
following particulars regarding his life :— 

“On May 3rd, 1878, died at Winchester William 
Whiting, master of the Choristers at S. Mary’s 
College in that city, and writer of the hymn, 
‘Eternal Father! strong to save. He was born 
in London and came at an early age to Winchester 
to fill an appointment at the Training College. 

“ His principal prose works were Rural Thoughts 
and Scenes and Edgar Thorpe, besides which he 
wrote several odes, sonnets, etc. His death took 
place in the holidays, so that only eight of his 
sixteen pupils were present at the funeral. Two 
of these have since gained distinction in music, one 
being George J. Bennett, Mus. Doc., Cantab., and 
the other Clement Locknane, also a composer. 

“The Warden of Winchester College and the 
Rev. A. J. Lowth read the burial service, and the 
hymns, ‘Oh what the joy’ and ‘Jesus lives! no 
longer now’ were sung by the College choir. The 
grave is on the north side and close to the walls of 
the burial chapel in the public cemetery at Win- 
chester. Mr. Whiting never enjoyed very good 
health, but was invariably cheerful and possessed 
a fund of quiet humour. He was rather short 
in stature and wore spectacles.” 

Another very fine hymn for those at sea, which 

F.H. 15 


226 HYMNS FOR “THOSE AT SEA” 


was written about the same time as “ Eternal 
Father! strong to save” is :— 


Asace rapl tz tofu ra Fie dec, 
Watch. led Thiter, arrytend (ovale leegh 
byte Thee yer Prraffad wn Pululfs ¢ 


G andk Su, 


This is probably the best-known of all Preben- 
dary Thring’s compositions. Like Mr. Whiting’s 
hymn, it had the good fortune to be specially set 
to music by the late Dr. Dykes, who composed for 
it the very fine setting known as “St. Aelréd.” The 
author based his hymn on the words taken from 
St. Mark’s Gospel: “And He arose, and rebuked 
the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.” 

The other day I was somewhat amused to read 
in an American paper the history of this hymn. 
“It owes its origin,” wrote the imaginative scribe, 
“to the fact that on one occasion, the author being 
out by himself off the coast of Scotland in a small 
sailing-boat, was overtaken by a storm. His mast 
snapped, his tiny sail was torn to shreds, and he 
was himself in imminent danger of being drowned, 
when a vision of the scene on the Lake of Genesaret 
appeared before him and calmed his nerves. With 
renewed hope he began to bail out the water from 


HYMNS FOR “THOSE AT SEA” 227 


his now rapidly-sinking little craft, and a few 
moments later was rescued by a steam yacht. 
When he had somewhat recovered he wrote, in 
the heartfelt gratitude which came upon him, the 
well-known lines beginning, ‘ Fierce raged the tem- 


,9) 


pest o’er the deep. This account is a pretty one, 
but unfortunately it is not correct. The story of 
the vision appearing to him is true enough, but the 
rest is false. The fact is, Prebendary Thring was 
safe on dry land when the idea of the hymn was 
conceived. He was sitting alone at the time, doing 
nothing. With half-closed eyes he saw the raging 
sea, the terrified mariners, and our Saviour sleeping 
calmly and peacefully. Then, taking pen and 
paper, he wrote “Fierce raged the tempest” as 
rapidly and spontaneously as did Heber when 
he penned his immortal “From Greenland’s icy 
mountains.” 

Dr. E. H. Bickersteth, the lately-resigned Bishop 
of Exeter, is the author of a great number of hymns, 
many of which were written with an especial object. 
Among these is one which he wrote for use at sea, 
and which is one of his best known :— 


Almighty Father, hear our cry, 

As o’er the trackless deep we roam 3 
Be Thou our haven always nigh, 
On homeless waters Thou our home. 


228 HYMNS FOR “THOSE AT SEA” 


Dr. Bickersteth tells me that there is no history 
attached to the writing of this hymn. He had 
long been struck by the fact that there were prac- 
tically no hymns specially suited for use when in 
mid-ocean, and he therefore determined to write 
one. He is a great admirer of Whiting’s “Eternal 
Father ! strong to save,” and gives it a place in 
his hymnal, but at the same time points out that 
it is not specially suited for singing dy those at sea, 
being much more appropriate when sung for those 
at sea. 

“ Almighty Father, hear our cry,” will be found 
in Dr. Bickersteth’s volume of poems entitled 
Two Brothers. \t there appears with the opening 
line in a somewhat different form to that usually 
met with in most collections. As some of my 
readers may be aware, the hymn, as given in the 
author’s volume, commences, “ Lord of the ocean, 
hear our cry.” 

Besides being a hymnist, Dr. Bickersteth has 
also done considerable work as an editor, having 
issued several collections. His most widely used 
is The Hymnal Companion to the Book of Common 
Prayer, which is used in a great number of churches. 
It was received with considerable favour the first 
year of publication, and now takes its place among 
the four most widely-circulated hymnals in Eng- 
land. 


HYMNS FOR “THOSE AT SEA” 229 


A hymn written by Bishop Heber, “To be sung 
by sailors in stormy weather,” but one which is to 
be found in only a few hymnals, is “ When through 
the torn sail the wild tempest is streaming.” This 
hymn was written only a short while before the 
author’s tragic end, and was not published until 
after his death. Though one of the best of 
Heber’s hymns, it remains one of the least known. 
It is written with his usual lyric power, and as many 
of my readers may not know it, I give the three 
verses :— 


When through the torn sail the wild tempest is streaming, 
When o’er the dark wave the red lightning is gleaming, 
Nor hope lends a ray the poor seaman to cherish, 
We fly to our Maker, “ Save, Lord, or we perish.” 


O Jesus, once rock’d on the breast of the billow, 
Aroused by the shriek of despair from Thy pillow, 
Now seated in glory, the mariner cherish, 

Who cries in his anguish, “Save, Lord, or we perish.” 


And O! when the whirlwind of passion is raging, 
When sin in our hearts his wild warfare is waging, 
Then send down Thy grace Thy redeeméd to perish, 
Rebuke the destroyer—“ Save, Lord, or we perish.” 


This hymn is also suitable for the 4th Sunday 
after Epiphany, the Gospel for that day being the 
history of the stilling of the waves on the Lake of 
Genesaret. 


x 


Funeral and harvest bymns 
ALL SAINTS’ DAY 


HYMN which is said to have been a — 
favourite with the late Queen Victoria is 
that for funeral services :— 3 
Now the labourer’s task is o’er; 
Now the battle-day is past ; 
Now upon the farther shore 
Lands the voyager at last. 
Father, in Thy gracious keeping 
Leave we now Thy servant sleeping. 


This hymn was originally written in six stanzas 
of four lines each with the well-known refrain. It © 
has, however, in almost all hymnals, been reduced, 
and the following verse omitted :— 

There the penitents, who turn 
To the Cross their dying eyes, 


All the love of Jesus learn 
At His Feet in Paradise. 


In his Motes on Church Hymns, for which y 
230 § 


FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS) 2 31 


collection this composition was specially written, 
Canon Ellerton tells us that the whole hymn, 
especially the third, fifth, and sixth verses, owes 
many thoughts, and some expressions, to a beauti- 
ful poem of the Rev. Gerald Moultrie’s, beginning, 
“ Brother, now thy toils are o’er.” 

Another well-known funeral hymn by Canon 
Ellerton is “God of the living, in whose eyes.” 
This was one of the first hymns the author wrote, 
being composed before he had reached the age of 
thirty. It is equal in merit to many of his more 
popular hymns, and will probably increase in 
favour. Canon Ellerton wrote it, I believe, for 
the funeral of one of his Sunday school children 
at Brighton, where he was curate at thetime. It 
soon found its way into several hymnals, one of 
the last editors to appropriate it being Prebendary 
Thring. In the original it does not appear in as 
many stanzas as we are accustomed to sing it, and 
the probability is that Canon Ellerton added to 
it afterwards. In many collections the following 
verse is omitted :— 

Released from earthly toil and strife, 

With Thee is hidden still their life ; 

Thine are their thoughts, their works, their powers, 

All Thine, and yet most truly ours ; 


For well we know, where’er they be, 
Our dead are living unto Thee. 


232 FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 


This hymn was a favourite with the author, 
probably from its associations with his early days. 
It has been successfully set to music by various 
composers, one of the most attractive and appro- 


priate melodies being “God of the living” by 


Mr. Everard Hulton. 

Miss Sarah Doudney is, perhaps, better known 
as a novelist than a hymnist, probably from the 
fact that her hymns are very few in number. 
What she has written in this way, however, is 
very excellent, and her hymn for funeral services is 
now among the best for those solemn occasions :— 

Sleep on, belovéd, sleep, and take thy rest ; 

Lay down thy head upon thy Saviour’s breast ; 

We love thee well, but Jesus loves thee best: 
Good-night ! 

This hymn, Miss Doudney tells me, was written 
after the death of a very dear friend of her girl- 
hood. It was suggested by a custom of the early 
Christians who bade their friends “good-night” when 
they entered the arena for the final trial of their 
faith, so sure were they of their re-union. “ Dark- 
ness and Dawn,” and “Quo Vadis” have given 
us a sense of the reality and simplicity of their 
belief in the awakening to a better life. Christina 
Rosetti, in one of her poems, has the same idea, 


beautifully expressed :— 


vile eet 


FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS | 233 


We meet in joy, though we part in sorrow ; 
We part to-night, but we meet to-morrow. 


“The sixth verse of my hymn,” writes Miss 
Doudney, “which reads :-— 


Only ‘good-night !’ belovéd, not ‘ farewell ! 
A little while and all His saints shall dwell 
In hallowed union, indivisible : 

Good-night! 


will hardly bear criticism: ‘indivisible’ does not 
rhyme well with ‘farewell’ and ‘dwell’; but the 
verses have become so dear to many mourners 
that I did not like to make any change. They 
were set to music, when they first appeared in 
a religious monthly, by the late Mrs. Worthington 
Bliss; but Mr. Sankey’s setting is far better 
known.” 

In America, “ Sleep on, belovéd ” is the favourite 
funeral hymn, and has been sung at the obsequies 
of many public men and women. In England it 
is also very popular, and was sung at the Duchess 
of Teck’s memorial service by command of the 
late Queen Victoria. | 

“Just before my mother died,” continues Miss 
Doudney’s interesting letter, “I was drawn to the 
open window by the sound of voices singing the 
hymn on a spring evening. The singers were 


234 FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 


hidden by the trees; darkness was closing in, and 
I never saw them come or depart. But the strain 
seemed even then to foretell the passing of the one 
I loved best ; and one more sacred memory was 
added to those which cling to the lines, written so 
long ago.” 

The beautiful setting to which this hymn is 
invariably sung, known as “The Blessed Rest” was 
specially composed for it by the late Sir Joseph 
Barnby. 

From Dean Milman’s “ Martyr of Antioch” we 
get one of the loveliest of all funeral hymns :— 


Brother, thou art gone before us; andthy saintly soul 
is flown 

Where tears are wiped from every eye, and sorrow is 
unknown ; 

From the burden of the flesh, and from care and fear ~ 
released, 

“Where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary 
are at rest.” 


To the many thousands who have listened to 
Sir Arthur Sullivan’s musical version of “The 
Martyr of Antioch” it is needless to say how 
impressive this funeral hymn is when sung, as it 
invariably is, unaccompanied. The melody is 
exquisite in its solemnity, and it is surprising to 
find that “ Brother, thou art gone before us” is in 


FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS ~ 235 


comparatively few hymnals. What could be finer 
than the subdued triumph of the closing lines :— 


And when the Lord shall summon us, whom thou hast 
left behind, 

May we, untainted by the world, as sure a welcome 
find ! 

May each, like thee, depart in peace, to be a giorious 
guest, 

“Where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary 
are at rest.” 


The argument of the “ Martyr of Antioch” is 
given in the preface to Sullivan’s adaptation. 
“Olybius is in love with Margarita, and she returned 
his love. This, however, was in her heathen days. 
She is now a Christian, and with her conversion, of 
which both her lover and her father are ignorant, 
she, though still not indifferent to him, rejects all 
ideas of union with a heathen. The piece opens 
with a chorus of Sun-worshippers, preliminary to 
_asolemn sacrifice. The Prefect calls for Margarita 
to take her accustomed place and lead the worship. 
During her non-appearance, the Priest charges 
him with lukewarmness in the cause of Apollo, 
and he avows his intention to put all Christians to 
death. 

“ The scene changes to the Christian Cemetery, 
where one of the brethren is buried, and a hymn 


236 FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 


is sung over him (‘ Brother, thou art gone before 
us’). After the funeral, Margarita remains behind, 
and pours forth her feelings in adoration of the 
Saviour. Her father finds her thus employed, and 
learns for the first time of her conversion. 

“ The scene again changes to the Palace of the 
Prefect. The Maidens of Apollo sing their even- 
ing song. Olybius and Margarita are left together ; 
he tells her of the happiness which will be hers 
when they are united. She then confesses she is a 
Christian ; he curses her religion, and she leaves 
him for prison. 

“ The final scene take place outside the prison of 
the Christians on the road to the Temple of 
Apollo. The Maidens of Daphne chant the 
glories of the god, while from within the prison 
are heard the more solemn and determined strains 
of the Christians. Margarita is brought out and 
required to make her choice. She proclaims her 
faith in Christ. Her lover and her father urge her 
to retract, but in vain; and she dies with the words 
of rapture on her lips :— 


“« The Christ, the Christ, commands me to His Home ; 
Jesus, Redeemer, Lord, I come! I come! I come!’” 


This fine musical drama contains some of 
Sullivan’s finest inspirations, and it is rather 


FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS -~— 237 


remarkable that the public so seldom has an 
opportunity of hearing it. In setting the drama 
to music Sir Arthur Sullivan had to have several 
alterations made, in many cases blank verse being 
changed to rhyme. This latter work was carried 
out by Mr. W. S. Gilbert. 

Another hymn for funeral services by Dean 
Milman and one which he wrote specially for 
Bishop Heber’s collection is :— 


When our heads are bow’d with woe 
When our bitter tears o’er flow, 
When we mourn the lost, the dear, 
Jesu, Son of Mary, hear. 


With the exception of the last line, which has 
been altered by innumerable editors, the hymn is 
usually given as written. It is one of the most 
popular of the late Dean’s hymns, and is to be met 
with in a great number of collections. It is sung 
by all denominations and is sometimes used as a 
litany. The plaintive and soothing melody with 
which it is associated was written by the late 
Richard Redhead, the same musician who com- 
posed what is generally considered to be the most 
popular tune to “Rock of Ages, cleft for me.” 
Curiously enough both these tunes are known 
by the same title, “Redhead,” which, to say the 


238 FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 


least of it, is somewhat confusing. Mr. Redhead 
only died comparatively recently. 
A hymn which is becoming year by year more 
often sung at funerals is the late Lord Tennyson’s : 
Sunset and evening star, 
And one clear call for me! 


And may there be no moaning of the bar 
When I put out to sea. 


This hymn, if hymn it can be called, is the only 
one which the author ever wrote. Like “ Abide 
with me” the verses were among the last the 
poet ever penned and are likely to become his 
most widely known. The couple of stanzas were 
written very rapidly and under the following 
interesting circumstances. It appears that Dr. 
Butler, of Trinity College, Cambridge, when visit- 
ing Tennyson, asked how the poet came to write 
“Crossing the bar.” Pointing to a nurse who had 
been with him some eighteen months, and had 
had great influence over him, he replied: “ That 
nurse was the cause of my writing ‘Crossing the 
Bar.’ She asked me to write a hymn, and I re- 
plied, ‘ Hymns are often such dull things.’ But at 
last he consented to write one, adding: ‘ They say 
that I compose very slowly, but I knocked that 
off in ten minutes.’” This little story was related 
by Canon Fleming in an address delivered at 


FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 239 


York recently. As is well known, shortly before 
his death the poet called his son to him and told 
him that it was his desire that “Crossing the Bar” 
should appear at the end of all future editions of 
his works, an injunction which has faithfully been 
fulfilled. 

Not written specially for funerals, but very 
often sung on these occasions, is Miss Charlotte 
Elliott’s : 

My God and Father! while I stray 
Far from my home in life’s rough way, 


O teach me from my heart to say, 
“Thy will be done.” 


This hymn is as popular as the same author’s 
“Just as I am, without one plea.” It was written 
some time before this latter hymn and pub- 
lished two years earlier. Various versions appear 
in different hymnals, and many editors have 
altered it to suit their own particular collections. 
The number of settings to which it is sung is 
almost as great as the number of versions. What 
makes it a particularly suitable hymn for singing 
at funerals is the lesson it teaches of resignation to 
those who are left behind. 

“My God, my Father! while I stray” is not 
only a beautiful hymn but interesting from the 
fact that in it we can trace much of the author’s 


240 FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 


own suffering and patience. As already mentioned, 


Miss Elliott was a confirmed invalid, and her | 


constant prayer was that she should learn the 
lesson of patience. In the following verse how she 
strove for the mastery is beautifully expressed : 
Though dark my path, and sad my lot, 
Let me be still and murmur not, 


Or breathe the prayer divinely taught, 
“Thy Will be done.” 


Miss Elliott’s hymns were never written with the 
intention of being sung in public, being, perhaps, 
more suitable for private use. After they had 
appeared in her Juvalia’s Hymn Book, however, 
they were taken, by various compilers, sometimes 
with her leave but more often without it, and 
inserted in numerous congregational hymnals. Of 
the 120 hymns which Miss Elliott wrote, about a 
sixth are in common use to-day and sung in all 
parts of the civilized globe. 

Among our harvest hymns there are few more 
beautiful than Mr. St. Hill Bourne’s “The sower 
went forth sowing.” It was written in 1874 for a 
Harvest Festival at Christ Church, South Ashford, 
Kent, and first printed ina magazine. There isa 
touching little story connected with the writing of 
the music to this hymn whichI have the com- 
poser’s permission to record here. It appears that 


FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 241 


the Proprietors of Hymns Ancient and Modern 
having purchased from Mr. St. Hill Bourne the 
copyright of “ The sower went forth sowing” and 
“Christ who once amongst us,” sent them to Dr. 
Bridge of Westminster Abbey and Dr. Stainer of 
St. Paul’s respectively, with the request that they 
would write special tunes to them. The MS. of 
“The sower went forth sowing” reached Dr. 
Bridge during a time of much trouble and anxiety, 
for his little girl, Beatrice, lay dying. Sitting by 
her bedside the composer read the words, and, as 
he watched the little life ebbing away, he com- 
posed the tune which so admirably suits the hymn. 
In memory of his little daughter the composer 
named the melody “ St. Beatrice.” 

A hymn which is not only sung at almost every 
harvest festival in Great Britain but also at those 
gatherings in the country known as the“ Harvest- 
home” is Dean Alford’s “Come, ye thankful - 
people, come.” This hymn, which is published in 
Dean Alford’s volume of poems, is very much 
longer in the original than it is in the ordinary 
hymnal collection. If Dean Alford had a fault, 
and there are few hymnists who had not, it was 
a tendency to make his compositions too long. 
Fifty-six lines for a single hymn is twice too many, 
but this is moderate compared with his “ Forward ! 

F.H. 16 


se 
t 


242 FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 


be our watchward,” which consisted of ninety-six 
lines! 

“Come, ye thankful people, come” appeared in 
so many different forms and phases as on more 
than one occasion to seriously offend the author. 
In several instances the Dean wrote to complain 
and repudiate the various versions published, but 
it was of little use, and very few hymnals even to- 
day give it exactly as the author wrote it. 

Compare this verse, as in the original :— 


Even so, Lord, quickly come 

To Thy final Harvest-home ! 
Gather Thou Thy people in, 

Free from sorrow, free from sin ; 
There, for ever, purified, 

In Thy Presence to abide ; 

Come, with all Thine angels, come, 
Raise the glorious Harvest-home! 


to that which appears in Hymns Ancient and 
Modern :— 


Come then, Lord of mercy, come, 
Bid us sing Thy Harvest-home: 
Let Thy saints be gatherd in, 

Free from sorrow, free from sin; 
All upon the golden floor 

Praising Thee for evermore ; 

Come, with all Thine Angels come; 
Bid us sing Thy Harvest-home. 


FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS ~ 243 


This hymnal was certainly the greatest sinner in 
the matter of alteration, andthe Dean was much 
offended that his opinion regarding the various 
changes made was not even asked. 

The very fine tune to this hymn was composed 
by Sir G. J. Elvey, who christened it “St. George’s, 
Windsor,” in memory of his connection with that 
historic chapel. 

Our second most popular harvest hymn comes 
to us from a German source. This is :— 


We plough the fields and scatter 
The good seed on the land, 


which was written by Matthias Claudius sometime 
about the year 1782. In the original it was a 
lengthy poem of many verses, only a selection from 
which is found in German hymnals. The author, 
who was born at Lubeck in 1740, was for many 
years connected. with the Hamburg News Agency, 
and subsequently edited various German papers. 
He wrote poems and articles as well as a good 
deal of religious verse. Many of his hymns are to 
be found in German hymnals, and of these some 
two or three have been translated into English, the 
most popular being the one for harvest. He died 
during the latter part of the year which saw the 
Battle of Waterloo. 


244 FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 


The translator of the most popular version of 
“We plough the fields and scatter” is Miss J. M. 
Campbell, who has given us many other excellent 
translations from the German. Miss Campbell, 
who was the daughter of a country vicar, used to 
teach in the schools attached to her father’s parish, 
and it was for these children that she made her 
now famous translation. Miss Campbell scarcely 
lived sufficiently long to appreciate to the full the 
great popularity attained by her hymn, for she died 
in 1878. The very fine melody to which the 
hymn has always been sung is also from the 
German, having been composed by J. A. P. Schulz, 
and is contemporary with the original poem. 

In Prebendary Thring’s collection I notice a 
fourth verse is given. It is not a translation but is 
an original stanza by H. Downton. Like the 
fourth verse to “Lead, kindly light” there is no 
apparent reason for its being. 

A very exultant harvest hymn is that by the 
late Chatterton Dix :— 


To Thee, O Lord, our hearts we raise 
In hymns of adoration, 

To Thee bring sacrifice of praise 
With shouts of exultation. 


This hymn was written in 1863, some four years 
prior to the writing of his better-known “Come 


FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS) 245 


unto Me, ye weary.” It was set to music by the 
late Sir Arthur Sullivan, who wrote for it the very 
excellent melody called “Golden sheaves.” It is 
given in most hymnals without alteration and has 
attained great popularity. At harvest festivals 
it is very often used as a processional hymn, and 
in country villages I have known it to be sung by 
children bearing sheaves of corn. The concluding 
verse is one of the most successful Mr. Dix ever 
wrote :— 
Oh, blesséd is that land of God, 
Where saints abide for ever ; 
Where golden fields spread far and broad, 
Where flows the crystal river: 
The strains of all its holy throng 
With ours to-day are blending ; 


Thrice blesséd is that harvest song 
Which never hath an ending. 


It is not altogether inappropriate, I hope, to 
place among the harvest hymns one which was 
written for a Children’s Flower Service. The com- 
position I refer to is that by the late Rev. Abel 
Gerald Blunt, “ Here, Lord, we offer Thee all that 
is fairest.” This hymn was written while Mr. 
Blunt was rector of St. Luke’s, Chelsea, and when 
I last had the pleasure of meeting the author I 
was told that he wrote the hymn specially for the 
children of his parish, and that it was sung for two 


246 FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 


or three years at St. Luke’s before the outside 
world had even heard of it. Mr. Blunt’s flower 
services were events in the lives of the many 
hundreds of children who flocked to his Church. 
No child so poor but managed to bring a 
few blossoms as an offering, and some of the 
bouquets were really beautiful. There was keen 
competition among the little ones as to who should 
bring the prettiest posy and more than one 
instance is recorded of a child having saved her 
halfpence for many months in order that her 
“bunch” might be among the very best. Many of 
them knew the hymn “ Here, Lord, we offer Thee” 
by heart, for they used invariably to sing it as they 
marched up to present their flowers. Mr. Blunt 
was for nearly forty years rector of St. Luke’s, 
and to-day he is sadly missed, perhaps most of all 
by the children. Only a few weeks before his 
death he wrote out and sent me a MS. of his 
well-known hymn, which has been most success- 
fully set to music by the Rev. P. Maurice, 

A hymn which is usually associated with All 
Saints’ Day, and which has come to us from the 
German, is :-— 

Who are these like stars appearing, 


These before God’s Throne who stand? 
Each a golden crown is wearing, 


FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 247 


Who are all this glorious band ? 
Alleluia, hark ! they sing, 
Praising loud their heavenly King. 


This very fine translation was made by Miss 
Frances E. Cox, and has been included in a great 
number of hymnals. There are other versions, but 
they have all been cast into shadow by Miss Cox’s 
brilliant translation. The author of the original 
hymn was Heinrich Theobald Schenk, the son of 
a German pastor, born in 1656. This is the only 
hymn associated with his name, but it has been 
sung in Germany for nearly two hundred years. 
It must have been written when he was an old 
man of sixty-one or sixty-two, and the melody, 
known as “ All Saints” is contemporary with the 
hymn. Indeed, it appears very probable that the 
tune was in existence some years before Schenk’s 
hymn was published, and it is not, therefore, 
altogether improbable that the hymn was written 
to the tune or, at all events, fitted to the tune after 
it was written. Miss Cox, the translator of this 
hymn, shares with Miss Winkworth the honour of 
being among the best translators from the German 
who have flourished during the last half century. 
Her translations are to be found in all modern 
collections. 

“Hark! the sound of holy voices, chanting at 


248 FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 


the crystal sea,” by Bishop Christopher Words- 
worth, is another favourite hymn for All Saints’ 
Day. It will be found in his Holy Year, from 
whence it has been taken by many editors, and 
is now included in a great number of hymnals. 
Canon Ellerton makes an interesting reference 
to this hymn. He says:—“In the earlier 
editions of Church Hymus the fifth stanza of this 
hymn :— 
Now they reign in heavenly glory, now they walk in 
golden light, 
Now they drink as from a river, holy bliss and infinite ; 
Love and peace they taste for ever, and all truth and 


knowledge see 
In the Beatific Vision of the Blesséd Trinity, 


was omitted in deference to the judgment of one of 
the Episcopal Referees of the Society for Promot- 
ing Christian Knowledge, who held that the verse 
was liable to be misunderstood as countenancing 
the popular error that the Blessed are already in 
the full fruition of their future and everlasting 
glory—the ‘ Beatific Vision.’ _It is scarcely need- 
ful to say that so accurate a theologian as the 
Bishop of Lincoln had no sympathy with this 
view. His Lordship, while pressing for the restora- 
tion of this verse, explained that the whole hymn, 
from beginning to end, was to be regarded as the 


THE RIGHT REV. BISHOP CHRISTOPHER WORDSWORTH, D.D. 


Photo by Elliott & Fry. 


MR. CHARLES WESLEY, M.A. 


From an Engraving. 


FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 249 


utterance in triumphant song of a vision of the 
final gathering of the saints, not as an exposition 
of their present condition in the intermediate state. 
The Tract Committee of the society therefore 
desired that the verse should in subsequent 
editions be restored ; but should, in deference to 
those who might still think it liable to miscon- 
struction, be bracketed for optional use.” 

This was accordingly done, and all those who 
use this hymnal are now let into the secret of the 
mysterious brackets. 

Dean Alford’s fine hymn for All Saints’ Day, 
“Ten thousand times ten thousand,” is very often 
used as a processional, and when sung to Dr. 
Dykes’ spirited melody, “ Alford,” makes one 
of the finest religious songs to be sung on the 
march it is possible to conceive. It is one of 
the most lyric hymns in the language, and the 
glowing words as well as the alliteration render 
it a peculiarly impressive .hymn when sung, 
as it used to be in Canterbury Cathedral, by an 
immense body of worshippers. A copy of the 
manuscript, which was sent to me many years ago 
by the late Dean’s son-in-law, contains a note on 
the margin to the effect that in the original the 
hymn consisted of three stanzas only, but the 
Dean, thinking the final lines :— 


250 FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 


Then eyes with joy shall sparkle 
That brimm’d with tears of late; 
Orphans no longer fatherless, 
Nor widows desolate 


were somewhat sad and melancholy, added the 
following triumphant verse :— 


Bring near Thy. great Salvation, 
Thou Lamb for sinners slain, 
Fill up the roll of Thine elect, 
Then take Thy power and reign: 
Appear, Desire of nations, 
Thine exiles long for home ; 
Show in the heavens Thy promised sign ; 
Thou Prince and Saviour, come. 


In this form the hymn was sung at the author’s 
funeral on January 17, 1871. 


There is but little doubt that Archbishop Mac- 


lagan is best known by his hymn for All Saints’ 
Day :— 


The saints of God! their conflict past, 
And life’s long battle won at last, 
No more they need the shield or sword, 
They cast them down before their Lord: 
O happy Saints! for ever blest, 
At Jesus’ feet how safe your rest ! 


This hymn, the author tells me, was first 
published in Church Bells in 1870. It was written 
in 1869. 


The year following its publication 


FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS — 251 


it appeared in the S.P.C.K. hymnal, and from 
thence it was taken for a considerable number of 
collections. The lovely melody with which it is 
associated was composed by the late Sir John 
Stainer, and is one of the most successful of all 
that composer’s refined hymn tunes. It is gener- 
ally supposed to have been written expressly for 
Archbishop Maclagan’s hymn but this is incorrect. 
A few months before his death, having a desire to 
compare the published setting with the original, I 
wrote to Dr. Stainer asking him if he possessed 
the MS. He replied that he did not, but very 
kindly wrote me out a fresh copy, adding on the 
margin a humorous little note to the effect that I 
might judge from the manuscript that he could 
never earn his living as a music copyist! The 
melody was composed in 1873 for performance by 
the London Church Choir Association in St. Paul’s 
Cathedral, and sung to the hymn :— 


Thou hidden love of God, whose height, 
Whose depth unfathom’d, no man knows ; 
I see from far Thy beauteous light, 
Inly I sigh for Thy repose ; 
My heart is pain’d, nor can it be 
At rest, till it finds rest in These. © 


By the express wish of Sir Henry Baker, Dr. 
Monk, and Dr. Dykes, however, it was, and ever 


252 FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS 


will be, associated with “ The Saints of God.” It 
will be noticed that the, name of the tune is 
“ Rest.” 

Bishop Heber’s fine hymn dedicated to St. 
Stephen is just as often sung on All Saints’ Day, 
and therefore no apology is needed in giving it a 
place under this chapter. It is found in Heber’s 
collection of manuscript hymns in the British 
Museum, and there begins “The Son of God is 
gone to war.” Many fine settings have been 
written for this hymn, and it is sometimes given in 
stanzas of four lines and sometimes of eight. In 
the original it appears in four-line stanzas. 

This hymn was brought prominently before the 
public some years ago by Juliana Horatia Ewing in 
her very beautiful Story of a Short Life. In that 
pathetic history of the troubles of a courageous 
little sufferer it will be remembered that “The 
Son of God goes forth to war” was the favourite 
hymn in the barracks, and was always referred 
to by the soldiers as the “tug of war” hymn. 
The hero of the story, one of the officer’s sons 
who meets with an accident and is crippled for 
life, begs a few moments before his death that 
the soldiers may be allowed to sing their “tug 
of war” hymn once again before he dies. The 
soldiers are told of his desire, and they go beneath 


FUNERAL AND HARVEST HYMNS - 253 


his window and sing the well-known lines. When 
they are in the midst of the verse :— 
A noble army, men and boys, 
The matron and the maid, 


Around the Saviour’s Tlirone rejoice 
In robes of light array’d, 


they glance towards the window and, seeing a hand 
stretched forth to pull the blind down, know that 
the last lines are falling on ears which will never 
hear them. It is a most beautiful story, and 
at the height of its popularity all the school 
children were asking for the “tug of war” hymn. 
It was Mrs. Ewing’s husband who wrote the most 
popular tune to “ Jerusalem the Golden,” and the 
one which Dr. Neale declared most exactly suited 


the words. 


XI 


bymns for Children 


STORY is told of an old man over eighty 

years of age, who, when he lay dying, 
endeavoured in vain to recall a single prayer or 
hymn which might help to comfort. him in his 
journey into the unknown. He had led anything 
but a blameless life ; since the age of twenty he 
had never once entered a place of worship or given 
a single thought to a future state ; and now, as he 
stood on the threshold of a new life, his brain could 
frame no prayer to the God before Whom he was 
so soon to appear. 

And then suddenly his vision cleared, and he 
saw himself a little lad again, kneeling at his 
mother’s knee, repeating his evening hymn; and 
unconsciously from his lips issued those tender 
words which for nearly seventy years he had 


neither uttered nor heard— 
254 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 255 


Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, 
Look upon this little child ; 
Pity my simplicity, 

Suffer me to come to Thee. 


It is the same with a good many of us. We 
often remember most clearly the lessons we 
learned in childhood, and it is probable that 
there are few readers of this little volume who 
could not recall the days when they too knelt and 
repeated the same familiar lines. It was one of 
the earliest hymns Charles Wesley wrote, and he 
composed it expressly for children. It has, indeed, 
been stated that the author wrote it for his own 
children, but this of course is incorrect, inasmuch 
as Charles Wesley was not married until many 
years after its composition. There is little doubt, 
however, that in after years his own children loved 
this little hymn as much as any child who sings it 
to-day. It was written about the year 1740, and 
published two years later in the author’s Hymns 
and Sacred Poems. This simple and beautiful 
composition is in two parts of seven verses each, 
the second part beginning— 


Lamb of God, I look to Thee, 
Thou shalt my Example be ; 
Thou art gentle, meek, and mild, 
Thou wast once a little child. 


256 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


Though Charles Wesley was fond of children 
and wrote many hymns for their benefit, it cannot 
be said that he was ever very successful as a 
writer for the young. The reason, as a contem- 
porary has pointed out, is not very far to seek. 
“He started with the wrong idea, attempting to 
lift children up to the level of adults, merely 
adapting his compositions to them by simplicity 
of diction.” With the exception of “ Gentle Jesus, 
meek and mild,” not one of the many hymns he 
wrote for children has lived to be sung to-day. 

A children’s hymn which has become almost a 


classic is :— 


Tt te Cvbttt Dalry — Wt ua ea Sie, Hf ty, 
Unaditer thay Char; Yt pai 
Hus 2 His flirg, Resmtinter, 7 'tus Ee hisouce 
plus « tH dive. Whatie Plies Goud [5 love. 


written by Miss Katherine Hankey some thirty-five 
years ago. It has probably been translated into 
more languages and dialects than any other child’s 
hymn, and every year the author receives numerous 
requests from missionaries and workers in distant 
corners of the globe for permission to make fresh 
translations. The hymn has become so closely 
identified with Ira D. Sankey’s Sacred Songs and 
Solos, as to give rise to an impression that the 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 257 


author wrote it specially for that hymnal. This, of 
course, is not the case. It is much more probable 
that soon after its publication it was reprinted in 
an American paper and there seen by Mr. Sankey, 
who, thinking it would make an attractive addition 
to his hymnal, sent it to his friend, Mr. W. H. Doane, 
of Preston, Connecticut, with a request that he 
would set it to music. This Mr. Doane did, but 
instead of conforming to the original he turned the 
four-lined verses into eight-lined stanzas and added 
the now well-known refrain— 

Tell me the old, old story, 

Tell me the old, old story, 


Tell me the old, old story, 
Of Jesus and His love. 


The hymn “caught on” in America, and soon 
became the first favourite at Moody and Sankey’s 
Meetings. This setting, however, Miss Hankey 
greatly deprecates, for, she argues, each verse is 
complete in itself, there being no connecting links 
between any two of the verses. However, Mr. 
Doane’s setting is now the most popular, both in 
this country and America, and has done a good 
deal towards making the hymn known in all parts 
of the world. 

The history of the origin of “ Tell me the old, 
old story” I heard from the lips of the author 

F.H. 17 


258 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN | 


herself some months ago, as she sat and wrote 
an autograph of the simple and beautiful hymn 
for reproduction here. 

“The hymn as I first wrote it,” said Miss 
Hankey, “consisted of fifty verses of four lines 
each. It was divided into two parts— The Story 
Wanted’ and ‘The Story Told.” I wrote Part I. 
towards the end of January, 1866. I was unwell 
at the time—just recovering from a serious illness 
—and the second verse really indicates my state 
of health, for I was, literally, ‘weak and weary.’ 
When I had written the first part, which consisted 
of eight verses, I laid it aside; and it was not 
until the following November that I completed the 
whole hymn. It is, perhaps, strange that the plea 
for the story, and not the story itself, should be- 
come the favourite hymn ; but of course the second 
part is far too long for congregational singing.” 

Miss Hankey also composed a musical setting 
for “Tell me the old, old story,” which is very 
simple and beautiful. Though frequently sung, 
however, it has never attained the popularity 
enjoyed by that published in the American 
hymnal.: 

“What has always greatly surprised me,” con- 
tinued Miss Hankey, “is that so many people, 
including hymnal editors, should look upon it 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 259 


only as a children’s hymn; I certainly had not 
children in my mind when I wrote it. However, 
if it answers its purpose, I suppose it matters very 
little whether it is sung by the young or the aged. 
I am sincerely grateful that my little hymn has 
proved a comfort and a blessing to so many.” 
Miss Hankey is the author of many other 
hymns, not one of which, however, has become 
very well known. Like many another hymnist, 
she will be remembered by a single composition. 
A hymn which was perhaps more popular with 
children fifteen years ago than it is to-day is 
“There is a happy land, far, far away.” It was 
written by Mr. Andrew Young in 1838. Mr. 
Young happened during that year to be spend- 
ing his holiday in Rothesay, and one day called 
at the house of a friend, where he passed the after- 
noon. In the drawing-room a little girl began to 
play on the piano. The tune was a pretty little 
Indian melody, very simple, and Mr. Young, who 
was passionately fond of music, begged her to play 
it again. He remarked that it would make a 
capital tune for a children’s hymn, and again 
asked to have it repeated. That night, as he 
slept, the tune still haunted him, and early in 
the morning he rose, and, while walking in the 
garden, wrote the hymn which has now become so 


260 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


well known. It has been translated into many 
languages and dialects, and is a general favourite 
among the converted natives of China. 

Mr. Andrew Young was born in Edinburgh, 
where he was educated, in 1807. At the early age 
of twenty-three he was appointed Head Master of 
Niddry Street School, Edinburgh, where, in less 
than ten years, he raised the number of pupils 
from 80 to 600. In 1840 he became Principal 
English Master at Madras College, St. Andrew’s, 
where his success as a teacher was no less remark- 
able. This appointment, however, he resigned in 
1853, and became Superintendent of the Greenside 
Parish Sabbath Schools. He died on November 
30, 1889. 

Though Mr. Young was the author of numerous 
hymns, many of which he wrote for his pupils, 
only one has stood the test of time—* There is a 
happy land.” 

One of the most widely known and best loved 
of all children’s hymns is :— 


I blade where Stench tat-swwset story o hily 
& Pesie7 55 Late cel be LES fle 
a v2 ‘e y heltlrind eo oo ao ; 
Sthovdd: Care t Luss bene) otis Comes tii 


written in 1841. The authoress, Mrs. Jemima 
Luke, is still happily with us, and is now (1902) 


THE REV. CANON TWELLS, M..\. 
Photo by Mayall. 


MRS. J. LUKE. 
from a Photo. 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 261 


living a retired life in the Isle of Wight. This 
lady has recently published a delightful book of 
reminiscences, written in so fresh and interesting a 
manner as to suggest the work of a young and 
ingenuous girl rather than that of a lady between 
eighty and ninety years of age. 

“ The Child’s Desire,” as Mrs. Luke entitled her 
hymn, was written, as many people are aware, in a 
stage coach, between Taunton and Wellington. 
The story of its composition is well known, but 
will bear repetition. At the Normal Infant School, 
Gray’s Inn Road, where Miss Thompson (as she 
was then) had gone to learn the system, the 
teachers had to march up and down the school- 
room singing the marching pieces provided for 
their future use, and amongst them was the air 
to which Mrs. Luke’s hymn was subsequently 
adapted. The words set to it in the book of 
marching pieces were simple and pretty, but Miss 
Thompson thought the air would better adapt 
itself to a hymn, and tried in vain to find one 
to suit the measure. Just about this time she 
became seriously ill with erysipelas, and for days 
lay only half conscious. When she recovered she 
was sent to Taunton for change of air, and it was 
during this visit that “The Child’s Desire” was 
written, 


262 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


“In the small town of Wellington,” to quote 
Mrs. Luke’s own words, “five miles away, there 
was a little association in aid of the Society for 
Female Education in the East. One fine spring 
morning I went in a two-horse coach to see how 
the Society was prospering. It was an hour's ride. 
There was no other inside passenger. I took a letter 
from my pocket, and on the back of the envelope 
wrote two verses of the little hymn now so well 
known. The composition originally consisted of 
two verses only, but in response to a request from 
my father to make it a missionary hymn, the third 
verse was added. 

“My father superintended the Sunday School 
at the little chapel belonging to the estate. He 
used to let the children choose the first hymn 
themselves. One Sunday afternoon they struck 
up their new hymn. My father turned to my 
younger sisters, who stood near him, and said, 
‘Where did that come from? I never heard it 
before.’ ‘Oh, Jemima made it, was the reply 
On the Monday he asked me for a copy of the 
words and tune. This he sent, with name and 
address in full, to the Sunday School Teachers 
Magazine, where it appeared the following month. 
But for my father’s intervention the hymn would 
in all probability never have been preserved.” 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 263 


Mrs. Luke, who sat up in bed to write me a 
manuscript of “ The Child’s Desire,” added that 
she always considers the little hymn an inspiration 
from above, and not “in her,” for she has never 
since been able to write another hymn of equal 
merit. 

Another hymn for children which has become 
a great favourite in England, though by an 
American writer, is “ Jesus loves me, this I know.” 
It was written about the year 1858 by Miss Anna 
Warner, sister of the author of Queechy and 
other popular novels. Miss Warner, who has all 
her long life taken the greatest interest in the 
religious education of children, had, until quite 
recently, a very large Sunday School at West 
Point, and it was her invariable custom to write 
for her pupils a fresh hymn once a month. She 
used to take a tune which the children knew and 
liked, and then write words to fit the melody. 
One of these hymns was “ Jesus loves me,” and it 
was written for the very tiny members of her 
class. It soon became a favourite in America, 
ultimately finding its way into nearly all American 
hymnals. Very soon it was taken by English 
editors, and it would be difficult to say in which 
country it is now more often sung. 

Miss Warner is the daughter of the late Henry 


264 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


W. Warner, and was born in New York some- 
time during the latter part of the year 1821. She 
has written several volumes of poems and hymns, 
besides numerous novels which have had a large 
circulation in the States. 

Miss Warner was especially successful in writing 
hymns for children, and many others of her com- 
positions besides “Jesus loves me” are slowly 
making their way into English hymnals. The 
following, which the authoress calls “A Mother’s 
Evening Hymn,” might have been written by the 
author of “Sweet and low”— 

O little child! lie still and sleep ; 

Jesus is near, thou need’st not fear ; 

No one need fear whom God doth keep, 
By day and night ; 

Then lay thee down in slumber deep 
Till morning light. 


O little child! be still and rest, 

He sweetly sleeps, whom Jesus keeps, 

And in the morning wakes so blest, 
His child to be; 

Love every one, but love Him best, 
He first loved thee. 


“ Hosanna we sing, like the children dear,” by 
G. S. Hodges is, found in most collections published 
during the last quarter of a century, and is an 
especial favourite on Palm Sunday. Mrs, Hodges 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 265 


tells me that, though her husband wrote a great 
number of hymns, the one referred to here is the best 
known and most appreciated. It was written in 
1874, and published the following year, with music 
specially written for it by the late Dr. Dykes. 

Mr. G. S. Hodges, who was Vicar of Stubbings, 
near Maidenhead, from 1882 to 1899, was passion- 
ately fond of children, and never happier than 
when he had a child perched on his knee. This 
love for children undoubtedly helped him to 
understand exactly the kind of hymn that would 
please them best, and accounts in a measure for 
the favour with which “Hosanna we sing” was 
received. Indeed, this hymn was particularly 
fortunate both as regards author and composer, 
seeing that Dr. Dykes was also devoted to 
children. 

In sending me a MS. of her husband’s hymn 
Mrs. Hodges writes: “You will see that it is 
not quite the same as in the hymnals. It must 
have been “touched up” afterwards, I think, but 
whether by author or editor I cannot say. My 
husband was not accustomed to speak much about 
the method he adopted in writing his hymns. He 
generally altered a good deal after making the 
first draft of the hymn, and would write it out 
several times before being perfectly satisfied.” 


266 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


Mr. Hodges is the author of a volume of sacred 
and secular poems, which he published in 1876. 
In this work appear many translations from the 
Latin as well as several hymns worthy the atten- 
tion of compilers. 

Two simple hymns by the late Dr. T. O. Sum- 
mers find places in most collections for children. 
“The morning bright,” based on the text “ Whether 
we wake or sleep, we should live together with 
Him” was written about the year 1846, and in- 
tended to be used as a morning hymn, while 
“The daylight fades,” founded on words taken 
from the Psalms: “ The Lord is the strength of my 
life, of whom then shall I be afraid,” was written 
some three years later. Curiously enough these 
two hymns appear to be the only compositions 
of the kind Dr. Summers ever wrote. Concerning 
them, the author says— 

“My first child was born in January, 1845. 
When she was about a year old, as I was de- 
scending the Tombigbee River, in a little steamer, 
I wrote a morning hymn for her on the back of 
a letter, transcribed it when I reached Mobile, 
and sent it to her at Tuscaloosa. That was the 
origin of ‘The morning bright’ When editing 
the Southern Christian Advocate I put it without 
name in the ‘Child’s Department.’ It was copied 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 267 


into the religious papers generally, and into books, 
My second child was born in 1847, and for her 
I wrote ‘The daylight fades, as far as I can 
recollect, about the year 1849.” 

Sad to relate, neither of Dr. Summers’ children 
grew up to womanhood, both dying when quite 
young, and within a short time of each other. 
Dr. Summers, who was born in Dorset in 1812, 
was for many years a missionary in North America. 
He died in 1882, 

The following is a hymn which most of us can 
recall singing in our early days :— 


It was written by Mr. Albert Midlane between 
forty and fifty years ago at Newport, Isle of 
Wight, within a short distance of the house 
in which Thomas Binney penned those beautiful 
and well-known lines beginning “ Eternal Light, 
Eternal Light.” 

Mr. Midlane began writing hymns as soon as 
he could read, and before his ninth birthday had 
composed a set of religious verses which so much 
impressed his parents and friends by their depth 


268 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


and fervour as to give rise to the cheerful belief 
that he was destined for an early grave. He has, 
however, conclusively proved that “ prodigies” do 
not always die young. 

“The very first hymn I wrote which was used,” 
says Mr..Midlane, “was written on May 24, 
1844, when I was nineteen years of age. It was 
published under the title of ‘God bless our Sunday 
Schools,’ and sung to the tune of the National 
Anthem. Fifty-seven years ago last summer it 
was first sung as our Anniversary Hymn, and still 
it finds expression from the lips, and, I trust, 
from the hearts of many little pilgrims.” 

But it is his hymn for children that will keep 
Mr. Midlane’s memory green when the hand that 
penned it is still. “There’s a Friend for little 
children” was written on February 27, 1859, and 
was first scribbled in his note book. The original 
manuscript is still preserved and the author some- 
times looks at it and smiles to think how those 
few verses, coming, as they did, straight from the 
heart, sang themselves round the world in less 
than a decade. This hymn formed a contribution 
to a little serial called Good News for the 
Little Ones, edited by C. H. Mackintosh, and 
published by Broom, and was first printed in their 
publication as the final article for the year 1859, 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 269 
under the heading of “Above the bright blue 


sky.” In the original MS., and as first printed, 
the opening verse began “There’s a rest for little 
children,” “Friend” being subsequently sub- 
stituted for “rest.” 

Mr. Midlane has written an immense number 
of hymns, and has lately published a collection 
containing 400 of his own compositions. Not 
one of his hymns, however, has attained anything 
like the popularity enjoyed by “ There’s a Friend 
for little children.” Mr. Midlane, who has been 
for more than half a century engaged in business 
at Newport, says that he first received poetic 
encouragement when he went, as a little fellow, 
to Sunday School. He used to write his verses, 
and after the lessons were over would show them 
to his teacher, an enthusiastic reader of poetry, 
who gave him valuable advice. His first printed 
hymn was written at the age of seventeen while 
on a visit to Carisbrook Castle. This hymn, 
beginning, “ Hark! in the presence of our God,” 
appeared in the Youth's Magazine for November, 
1842. 

Another hymn for children which has come to 
us from an American source is “ Shall we gather at 
the river?” by Robert Lowry. The following rather 
quaintly-expressed history of the origin of this 


270 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


hymn is given by Mr. E. W. Long in his ///us- 
trated History of Hymns and their Authors— 

“On a very hot summer day in 1864 a pastor 
was seated in his parlour in Brooklyn, N.Y. It 
was a time when an epidemic was sweeping 
through the city, and draping many persons and 
dwellings in mourning. All around friends and 
acquaintances were passing away to the spirit 
land in large numbers. The question began to - 
arise in the heart, with unusual emphasis, ‘ Shall we 
meet again? We are parting at the river of death : 
shall we meet at the river of life?’ Seating my- 
self at the organ,” says he (Mr. Lowry), “ simply 
to give vent to the pent-up emotions of the heart, 
the words and music of the hymn began to flow 
out as if by inspiration— 

Shall we gather at the river, 
Where bright angel feet have trod?” 

Dr. Lowry wrote a great number of hymns, 
for several of which he also composed effective 
music which helped considerably to increase their 
popularity. A hymn by Dr. Lowry which has 
been taken by many authors as the foundation 
of pathetic stories is “Where is my wandering 
boy to-night?” 

Mr. George Rundle Prynne, the present Vicar 
of St. Peter’s, Plymouth, is the author of :— 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 271 


Pa, o 0 pee 
Rie, ene ed 


one of the simplest and yet most perfect hymns 
for children ever written. It was composed in 
1856, and first appeared in a collection of hymns 
edited by Mr. Prynne. In 1861 it was given in 
Hymns Ancient and Modern and subsequently in 
nearly all hymnals published in Great Britain 
and America. In 1881 Mr. Prynne published it 
in a volume of hymns entitled The Dying Soldier's 
Vision, but by a mistake in passing the proof 
sheets the opening line read “ Jesus, meek and 
gentle” instead of “Jesu, meek and gentle” as 
originally conceived. In subsequent hymnals, 
however, the old form was adhered to. 

With regard to this composition the author 
says— 

“This littlke hymn has found its way into 
most hymn books. It is commonly thought to 
have been written for children, and on this sup- 
position I have been asked to simplify the fourth 
verse. The hymn was not, however, written 


272 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


specially for children. When it is used in col- 
lections of hymns for children it might be well 
to alter the fourth verse, which in the original 
runs— 


Lead us on our journey, 
Be Thyself the Way 
Through terrestrial darkness 
To celestial day. 


to the more simple— 


Lead us on our journey, 
Be Thyself the Way 

Through earth’s passing darkness 
To heaven’s endless day.” 


During a visit paid to St. Peter’s Vicarage some 
time ago, I had the pleasure of hearing from Mr. 
Prynne the circumstances under which he wrote 
his now famous hymn. 

“T composed it,’ said Mr. Prynne, “one sum- 
mer’s evening just forty-six years ago, and I don’t 
suppose the entire composition took me more than 
half an hour. My wife, who was a very good 
musician, was playing to me from my favourite 
composers at the time, and as she played so the 
words of the hymn came into my mind. I did not 
at first think of reducing them to paper, and it was 
only after the entire hymn was conceived that I at 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 273 


last took an old envelope from my pocket and 
scribbled the verses on the back. Then I read 
them over to Mrs. Prynne, and as she seemed to 
like them they were preserved, and subsequently 
appeared in one of my own books. I have been 
rather surprised that most hymnal editors should 
take it for granted that I wrote the hymn for 
children. Of course I did nothing of the sort, but 
I daresay it makes just as good a hymn for little 
ones as for adults, and after all I suppose most of 
us are children only ‘larger grown,’ 

“A short time after its publication I went for a 
holiday to Rome, and while there was asked to 
conduct the service at the English Church. When 
the time for giving out the hymns came I was 
rather startled to find myself delivering the first 
line of my own composition: Hymn No, — 
‘Jesu, meek and gentle.” The pleasure I ex- 
perienced on finding that it had so soon made 
its way to Rome was in no way lessened on 
hearing from the Vicar that the name of the 
author had not occurred to him, in fact he had 
never heard it!” 

Mr. Prynne has been Vicar of St. Peter’s, 
Plymouth, for fifty-four years, having been ap- 
pointed to the living in 1848. 

A hymn for children, by the late Miss Frances 

F.H. 18 


274 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


Ridley Havergal, which has become very popular 
both in this country and America is :— 


Her sister gives the following account of the 
writing of this hymn— 

“When visiting at Perry Barr Frances walked 
to the boys’ schoolroom, and, being very tired, she 
leaned against the playground wall while Mr. 
Snepp, a gentleman who was with her, went in. 
Returning in ten minutes he found her scribbling 
on an old envelope. At his request she handed 
him the hymn just pencilled, “Golden harps are 
sounding.” 

A few days later Miss Havergal composed a 
special tune for this hymn, and it was this same 
tune, “ Hermas,” that the gifted poetess sang a few 
moments before she died. 

Miss Havergal was once asked by a correspon- 
dent how she composed her hymns, to whom 
she replied— 

“ T can never set myself to write verse. I believe 
my King suggests a thought and whispers me a 


THE RIGHT REY. BISHOP W. W. HOW, D.D. 
Photo by Elliott & Fry. 


THE REV. JOHN KEBLE, M.A. 
From the painting by George Richmond, Esg., R.A. 


a 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 275 


musical line or two, and then I look up and thank 
Him delightedly, and go on with it. That is how the 
hymns and poems come. The Master has not put 
a chest of poetic gold into my possession and 
said, ‘ Now use it as you like!’ But he keeps the 
gold and gives it me piece by piece just when He 
will, and as much as He will and no more. Some 
day perhaps He will send me a bright line of 
verses on ‘Satisfied’ ringing through my mind, 
and then I shall look up and thank Him and 
say, ‘ Now, dear Master, give me another to 
rhyme with it, and then another’; and then per- 
haps He will send it all in one flow of musical 
thoughts, but more likely one at a time, that 
I may be kept asking Him for every line. 
There, that is the process, and you see there is 
no ‘I can do it’ at all. That isn’t His way with 
me. I often smile to myself when people talk 
about ‘gifted pen’ or ‘clever verses,’ etc. be- 
cause they don’t know that it is neither, but 
something really much nicer than being ‘talented’ 
or ‘clever.’” 

Bishop Walsham How wrote a great number of 
hymns for children, one of the most popular being 
“Come, praise your Lord and Saviour,” written in 
1871, and based on the words “O come, let us sing 
unto the Lord,” taken from the Psalms. The hymn 


276 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


consists of four verses of eight lines each, the first 
verse being sung by boys and girls together, the 
second verse by boys only, the third verse by girls 
only, and the concluding verse by boys and girls 
together again. The effect when sung by well- 
trained children’s voices is very pretty, and the 
hymn is, naturally, a great favourite in Sunday 
Schools. 

Another hymn for children, which was written 
about the same time as “ Come, praise your Lord 
and Saviour,” is— 

It is a thing most wonderful, 
Almost too wonderful to be, 
That God’s own Son should come from Heaven, 
And die to save a child like me. 
It was written with the intention of being sung at 
Sunday School arniversaries, and based on the 
text “ Herein is Love.” 

Bishop Walsham How had more than an 
ordinary love for children, and it is therefore not 
surprising that his hymns for little ones are so 
successful. It is said of him that even when near- 
ing that age when he might be said to be “ getting 
old” he would sit down and write a set of non- 
sense verses for a favourite grandchild with the 
greatest enthusiasm and earnestness. His char- 
acter was an extraordinarily lovable and unselfish 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 277 


one. Though Bishop How is the author of many 
works of great learning and value, it is not im- 
probable that his hymns will outlive them all. 
A hymn of American origin, which has found 
considerable favour with the editors of English 
hymnals, is— 
I love to hear the story 
That angel. voices tell, 


How once the King of glory 
Came down on earth to dwell. 


written by Mrs. Miller, the daughter of the Rev. 
Dr. Huntington, of Brooklyn, Connecticut. In a 
letter from Boonton, New Jersey, Mrs. Miller 
writes— 

“T do not know that there are any circum- 
stances of special interest connected with the 
writing of this children’s hymn. I was at the 
time (1867) joint editor of a magazine for young 
people entitled Zhe Little Corporal, for which I 
usually furnished a poem to be set to music each 
month. I had had a very serious illness and 
was slowly recovering, and, though too weak to 
do much literary work, the fact that Zhe Little 
Corporal would be published without my usual 
contribution was something of a worry to me. 
I determined, if possible, that this should not 
happen, so one afternoon, when I felt a little 


278 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


stronger, I took pen and paper and began to 
write ‘I love to hear the story.’ Though it is 
now close upon thirty-five years ago, I remember 
that the words were suggested rapidly and con- 
tinuously as if I were writing from dictation. 
In less than fifteen minutes the hymn was written 
and sent away without any corrections. Its popu- 
larity has always surprised me, as among the 
hundreds of hymns and songs which I have writ- 
ten, many seem to me to be of greater merit.” 

A very beautiful hymn by this author, but 
one which is not generally known, is the follow- 
ing, which should be included in all children’s 


hymnals— 
Father, while the shadows fall, 
With the twilight over all, 
Deign to hear my evening prayer, 
Make a little child Thy care. 
Take me in Thy holy keeping 
Till the morning break ; 
Guard me through the darkness sleeping, 
Bless me when I wake. 


*Twas Thy Hand that all the day 
Scattered joys along my way, 
Crowned my life with blessings sweet, 
Kept from snares my careless feet. 
Take me in Thy holy keeping 
Till the morning break ; 
Guard me through the darkness sleeping, 
Bless me when I wake. 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 279 


Like Thy patient love to me, 
May my love to others be; 
All the wrong my hands have done, 
Pardon, Lord, through Christ, Thy Son. 
Take me in Thy holy keeping 
Till the morning break ; 
Guard me through the darkness sleeping, 
Bless me when I wake. 


“Above the clear blue sky, In heaven’s bright 
abode,” by John Chandler, was first published in 
the authors Hymns for Public Worship, 1856, 
though when it was actually written is not very 
certain. It is one of the few original hymns by 
this author which has become what one might 
term “popular.” It is an immense favourite with 
children, having had the good fortune to be allied 
with an inspiriting melody composed for it by the 
late Dr. E. J. Hopkins. 

Among the MSS. in possession of the Church 
House, Westminster, there is a letter from John 
Chandler, in which special reference is made to 
this hymn. It was written to a correspondent, 
probably in reply to a question regarding Mr. 
Chandler’s method of composition. The letter, 
which is dated March 20, 1875, reads— 

“With the exception of ‘Above the clear blue 
sky’ I have composed no hymns since those pub- 
lished in 1837, which are translations. ‘ Above 


280 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


the clear blue sky’ appeared first in some Irish 
collection of hymns some years ago; but that is 
all I can remember about it.” 

The late Mrs. Cecil Frances Alexander had 
every right to be considered par excellence the 
children’s hymnist. Her hymns are known wher- 
ever Christianity is preached, and the translations 
that have been made are innumerable. The Rev. 
F. A. Wallis, of the Universities’ Mission to Cen- 
tral Africa, says he has heard Mrs. Alexander’s 
hymns sung by half-clad Africans in a language 
she had never known. Perhaps the best loved of 
all the hymns by this writer is :— 


It was written in 1847 and first published in 
the author’s Hymns for Little Children, a tiny 
volume of some thirty leaves, illustrated with 
full-page coloured illustrations. Mrs. Alexander 
once told me that her hymns were usually written 
for her Sunday School class, and were nearly 
all read over to her small scholars before being 
published. It is related that the beautiful and 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 281 


pathetic “There is a green hill” was written 
while Mrs. Alexander was sitting by the bed- 
side of a sick child. The little girl was 
“dangerously ill, but recovered, and ever after re- 
ferred to this particular hymn as her own pro- 
perty. Some of the greatest composers of modern 
times have set this hymn to music. Gounod, 
whose setting is perhaps the most widely known 
and appreciated, affirmed that it was the most 
perfect hymn in the English language, its greatest 
beauty being its simplicity. Between the author 
and composer an interesting correspondence took 
place, and one of Mrs. Alexander’s most prized 
possessions was an autograph copy of the famous 
composition sent to her by Gounod himself. In 
speaking about Mrs. Alexander’s hymns a short 
while before his death, Gounod remarked that 
many of them set themselves to music. 

In the manuscript copy of this hymn it will 
be noted that the first verse reads— 


There is a green hill far away, 
Outside a city wall, 
Where the dear Lord was crucified, 
Who died to save us all. 
This substitution of the word “outside” for 
“without” was made on the authoress being 
asked by a very small child what was meant by 


282 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


a green hill not having a city wall. This reminds 
one of the story of the little boy whose mother 
was teaching him a certain hymn, and when she 
came to the well-known lines— 


Satan trembles when he sees 
The weakest saint upon his knees, 


stopped his parent with the paralyzing question, 
“Why does the weakest saint sit on Satan’s 
knees?” The great beauty, however, of Mrs. 
Alexander’s hymns is their simplicity, and prob- 
ably fewer questions have been asked regarding 
their meaning (by children) than of those of any 
other writer. 

Among other hymns for children by Mrs. 
Alexander is “Once in royal David’s city,” 
which ranks second in point of popularity to 
“There is a green hill.” It might very well be 
sung as a Christmas hymn, being founded on 
words taken from the Creed—“ Who was con- 
ceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin 
Mary.” Mention must also be made of “We 
are but little children weak,” a hymn founded 
on the proverb, “Even a little child is known 
by his doings”; “All things bright and beauti- 
ful,” an exquisitely descriptive hymn based on the 
verse “God saw everything that He had made, 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 283 


and behold it was very good,” and “ Do no sinful 
action.” 

Mrs. Alexander was the daughter of Major 
John Humphreys, who fought at the battle of 
Copenhagen. In 1847 she married the Rev. 
William Alexander, who subsequently became 
Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, and ultimately 
Primate of All Ireland. She took the greatest 
interest in all religious and charitable works and 
was greatly beloved by the poor. Her best-known 
poem is “The burial of Moses,” which had a wide 
circulation. Of this work Tennyson said that it 
was one of the poems by a living writer of which 
he would have been proud to be the author. 
Mrs. Alexander died at the Palace, Londonderry, 
in 1895. 

A hymn by Mrs. Alexander which is not so 
well known as many of her others, though charac- 
terized by the same simplicity and beauty, is one 
she wrote on the text, “Do all things without 
murmurings, that ye may be... children of 
God ”— 


Day by day the little daisy 
Looks up with its yellow eye, 

Never murmurs, never wishes 
It were hanging up on high. 


The most successful hymn which John Hampden 


284 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


Gurney wrote was one for children: “ Fair waved 
the golden corn.” It was written on the text, 
“ The first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into 
the house of the Lord thy God,” and first pub- 
lished in a collection of hymns compiled by the 
author in 1851. Why this hymn should be con- 
sidered as specially suitable for children I do not 
know ; it would be far more appropriate amongst 
the harvest hymns. However, it has now for close 
upon half a century been looked upon as a hymn 
of praise for children, and I have therefore in- 
cluded it in this chapter. It has been translated 
into several languages and its use is very exten- 
sive. John Hampden Gurney, who was no rela- 
tion of Archer Thompson Gurney, the author of 
“Christ is risen, Christ is risen,’ was for many 
years rector of St. Mary’s, Marylebone, and Pre- 
bendary of St. Paul’s Cathedral. He died in 1862 
at the age of fifty-nine. 


Miss Janette Threlfall has not written a great ! 


number of hymns, but among them is one for 
children which takes a very high place. “Ho- 
sanna! loud Hosanna! The little children sang,” 
was written about the year 1870 and first pub- 
lished in the author's volumes of hymns and 
poems, Sunshine and Shadow. This little book is 
prefaced by a few remarks from the pen of Bishop 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 285 


Wordsworth, a great admirer of her compositions. 
“Tt is an occasion for great thankfulness,” writes 
her fellow hymnist, “to be able to point to poems, 
such as many of those in the present volume, in 
which considerable mental powers and graces of 
composition are blended with pure religious feel- 
ing, and hallowed by sound doctrine and fervent 
devotion.” 

Miss Threlfall was for many years a great in- 
valid, so prostrate indeed at times that she found 
it impossible even to write. Yet she was always 
bright and cheerful, her face seldom without a 
smile. Many of her hymns were dictated to a 
friend, who wrote them out, the manuscript being 
afterwards corrected by the author. A copy of 
“Hosanna! loud Hosanna!” sent me by Miss 
Eccles, Miss Threlfall’s cousin, is written in a 
round childish hand, and was evidently copied out 
for the author by one of her numerous juvenile 
friends who visited her during her illness. Miss 
Eccles tells me that several of her hymns were 
specially composed for the Whit Monday treat 
which took place annually at Miss Threlfall’s 
country home in the North of England. 

During the latter years of her life Miss Threlfall 
resided with relatives in Dean’s Yard, West- 
minster. Here she interested herself in parish 


286 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


work and won the lasting friendship of Dean 
Farrar and the late Dean Stanley. On her death 
in 1880 the former paid a glowing tribute to her 
memory in a special sermon which he preached 
on the Sunday following her decease. 

A hymn for children which in points of simpli- 
city and beauty has never been surpassed is that 
by Mary Duncan :— 


Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me ; 
Bless Thy little lamb to-night ; 
Through the darkness be Thou near me; 
Watch my sleep till morning light. 


All this day Thy hand has led me, 
And I thank Thee for Thy care; 

Thou hast clothed me, warmed and fed me; 
Listen to my evening prayer. 


Let my sins be all forgiven ; 
Bless the friends I love so well ; 
Take me, when I die, to heaven, 
Happy there with Thee to dwell. 


This little hymn is by no means in as many 
collections as one would suppose seeing that to 
most children it is as familiar as Charles Wesley’s 
“Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.” It has been set 
to music by various composers, perhaps the best 
known tune being “ Evening Prayer” by the late 
Sir John Stainer. 

The fact that this hymn was specially written 
by the authoress for her own little children gives 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 287 


an added interest to the composition. It is 
generally believed to have been composed three 
years after her marriage, in 1839, when Mrs. 
Duncan was barely twenty-five years of age. 
Her children, of course, would at that time be 
scarcely old enough to comprehend the meaning 
of the lines, or even pronounce the words after 
her, but we can readily believe that she was 
anticipating, with all a mother’s affection, the 
time when they would come to her knee and 
repeat the hymn she had written for them. That 
time was never to be. Only two or three months 
after writing the hymn Mrs. Duncan caught a 
severe cold which developed into pneumonia, and 
a few days later the young life was closed. The 
following year the hymn was published, and how 
many mothers have since taught their children the 
beautiful lines, who can say ? 

One of the most remarkable men in the Church 
of England to-day is the present Vicar of Lew 
Trenchard, the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould. His 
name is appended to more works in the British 
Museum than that of any other living writer, and 
there are few subjects on which he cannot write 
with authority. It is, however, as a hymn writer 
that Mr. Baring-Gould must be considered in the 
present volume, and his claim to a place among 


288 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


writers for children lies in his being the author 


This beautiful little hymn was written in 1865 
and appeared in the Church Times the same year. 
Three years later it was included in Hymns 
Ancient and Modern, and to-day it would be 
difficult to find a hymnal published during the 
last twenty-five years, either in England or 
America, in which it does not appear. 

The second verse of this composition, which in 
the original read as follows— 


Now the darkness gathers, 
Stars begin to peep, 

Birds, and beasts, and flowers 
Soon will be asleep. 


has been changed by the author to— 
As the darkness deepens, 
Stars begin to peep, 
Shadows of the twilight 
Darker round us creep. 
This version is, perhaps, the more poetical of 
the two. 
Mr. Baring-Gould wrote the hymn specially for 
the children in his Sunday School at Horbury 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 289 


Bridge. It is intended for evening singing and 
was founded on the text taken from Proverbs 
iii. 24. “When thou liest down, thou shalt not 
be afraid ; yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep 
shall be sweet.” 

One of the most prolific writers of hymns was 
Frances Jane Van Alstyne, more generally known 
as Fanny Crosby. She was born in America in 
1823, and during her lifetime composed no less 
than two thousand hymns. Among these was 
“Safe in the arms of Jesus,” which was written at 
the special request of her friend, Mr. W. H. 
Doane, the well-known composer. Mr. Doane 
had written a melody for which he had no words 
suitable. He therefore called on Mrs. Alstyne, 
played the melody over to her, and begged that 
she would write him some words suitable to the 
tune. This Mrs. Alstyne promised to do, and 
“Safe in the arms of Jesus” was the result. The 
authoress intended it as a children’s hymn, and as 
such it has attained great popularity. 

Mrs. Alstyne in infancy lost her sight, and at the 
- age of eleven became an inmate of the New York 
City Institution for the Blind. Here she remained 
for twenty-three years as pupil and teacher. In 
1858 she married Alexander Van Alstyne, a> 
gentleman who had set many of her hymns to 

F.H. 19 


290 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


music, and who was also blind. The marriage 
was a very happy one in spite of the terrible 
affliction under which both husband and wife 
laboured. 

Most of Mrs. Alstyne’s hymns appeared in 
Ira D. Sankey’s collection and owe no inconsider- 
-able amount of their popularity to the attractive 
melodies to which they are allied. It is said that 
the number of copies of Mrs, Alstyne’s hymns sold 
in America and Great Britain amounts to close 
upon one hundred millions. 

Mr. St. Hill Bourne, the Rector of Finchley, is 
the author of at least one composition which takes 
a high place among children’s hymns. I refer 


to— 
Christ, Who once amongst us 


As a child did dwell 


written in 1868 and first published seven years 
later. In answer to a question regarding the 
genesis of this hymn, the author writes— 

“There is nothing very interesting to tell you 
about the writing of this very simple little hymn 
It was one of the first I composed—in fact, was 
written before I was ordained. I really wrote it 
for the children of a mission school at Clerkenwell 
which I superintended on Sundays. This hymn 
was written about the same time as my harvest 


HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 291 


hymn, ‘The sower went forth sowing,’ both of 
which have since found a place in many collec- 
tions.” 

“Come, sing with holy gladness” was written by 
the late Mr. J. J. Daniell about the year 1864, and 
first appeared in the Appendix to Hymns Ancient 
and Modern. It is one of the most successful of 
all children’s hymns, the third verse being especially 
striking— 

O boys, be strong in Jesus, 
To toil for Him is gain, 
And Jesus wrought with Joseph 
With chisel, saw, and plane; 
O maidens, live for Jesus, 
Who was a maiden’s Son; 


Be patient, pure, and gentle, 
And perfect grace begun. 


In a conversation with the author’s brother some 
time ago I was informed that Mr. Daniell had not 
written many hymns, his time being generally 
occupied in writing prose works. Mr. Daniell 
was ordained by the Bishop of Manchester in 
1848, and after filling various curacies and livings, 
was preferred to the Vicarage of Langley Burrell 
in 1879, which he occupied down to his death 
in 1890. 

Mr. Daniell wrote many hymns for special use 
in his own church, but few of them have found 


292 HYMNS FOR CHILDREN 


their way into hymnals which are very widely 
circulated. “Come, sing with holy gladness” was 
written specially for children, and, his brother 
informed me, the author was never happier than 
when hearing his own “boys and maidens” sing- 
ing this hymn. The tune to which it is sung is 
the same as that to which “ Hosanna, loud 
Hosanna” is set, a melody which appeared in 
Kocher's Zionharfe in 1855. Mr. Daniell probably 


had this melody in his mind when he wrote his 


now famous hymn. 


XII 


Some General bymns 


ROM Dr. Neale’s translation of the Rhythm 

of Bernard of Morlaix many hymns have 
been taken. Of these the most popular are, “ The 
world is very evil,” “ Brief life is here our portion,” 
“For thee, oh dear, dear country,” and “ Jerusalem 
the golden.” These centos are to be found in 
every modern hymnal, and are favourites with all 
denominations. It is interesting, in connection 
with these hymns, to note what Dr. Neale says in 
the Preface to the first edition. “There would 
be,” he modestly suggests, “no difficulty in forming 
several hymns, by way of cento, from the fol- 
lowing verses, suitable to any Saint’s day, to the 
season of Advent, or to an ordinary Sunday. If 
any of Bernard’s verses are thus employed, I shall 
be thankful indeed that ‘He, being dead, yet 
speaketh’”” Later on, when a third edition of the 


Rhythm had been called for, he wrote: “I am 
293 


294 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


deeply thankful that Bernard’s lines seem to have 


spoken to the hearts of so many. I can reckon 


up at least fourteen new hymnals in which more 
or fewer of them have found a place.” 

The melodies to the various hymns taken from 
the Rhythm are almost as well known, perhaps 
equally so, as the hymns themselves. Dr. Neale 
was frequently asked to what tune the words of 
Bernard might be sung. In the fourth edition, 
published in 1861, he publicly answers the query. 
“Of the many tunes which have been composed,” 
he writes, “I may here mention that of Mr. Ewing, 
the earliest written, the best known, and with 
children the most popular ; that of my friend, the 
Rev. H. L. Jenner, perhaps the most ecclesiastical ; 
and that of another friend, Mr. Edmund Sedding, 
which, to my mind, best expresses the meaning of 
the words.” The Mr. Ewing referred to was the 
husband of Juliana Horatia Ewing, the author of 
Jackanapes and many other well-known stories 
for children. 

There have been many paraphrases of the 
goth Psalm, some of them exceedingly fine, but 
they have all given place to that by Dr. Watts 
beginning, “Our God, our help in ages past.” 
The exact date of this composition is uncertain, 
but it is generally supposed to have been written 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 295 


when the author was past forty. In the Methodist 
hymnal it is placed in that section quaintly headed 
“Describing Death,” and is sometimes used as a 
funeral hymn. Though written originally “ Our 
God, our help in ages past,” Watts himself subse- 
quently changed the opening line to “O God! 
our help in ages past,” and in this form it is found 
in most hymnals. 

It has been said that nearly all great men have 
been members of large families, and this is borne 
out by Isaac Watts, who was the eldest of nine 
children. The events of his life are too well known 
to need recalling here, but it is rather an interest- 
ing fact that, when at an advanced age he was 
approaching death, he found consolation, not in 
his own hymns, but in those of other writers. In 
this respect he resembled the Father of Method- 
ism who, when he lay dying, kept repeating the 
opening line of Watts’ fine hymn, 


“ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath.” 


Only a few moments before the end came he 
endeavoured to repeat the hymn, but could only 
gasp out “I'll praise, I’ll praise,” and so struggling 
for breath died. It was a fine tribute to the 
worth of Watts’ hymn, and it is probable that 
many another Christian has also passed away with 


296 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


the same words on his lips. Isaac Watts died 
November 25, 1748, at the age of seventy-four. A 
monument was afterwards erected to his memory 
in Westminster Abbey. 

One of the most successful of the many hymns 
which have been written during the last twenty 
years is George Matheson’s “O Love that wilt not 
let me go.” This hymn has been specially set to 
music by Dr. A. L. Peace, who wrote for it the 
extremely beautiful melody “St. Margaret.” 

Some short while since I wrote to Dr. Matheson 
asking him for the story of his hymn and also for 
a MS. in his own handwriting, in order that I 
might reproduce it in facsimile. It was not until 
after I had posted the letter that I remembered 
with some dismay that the great Scottish preacher 
was blind. By return of post, however, I received 
a letter written by Dr. Matheson’s secretary, in 
which he said: “I have been blind from youth, 
and have long since given up all caligraphy now, 
attempting nothing more formidable than my 
signature, and this only when required for formal 
documents. 

“The circumstances under which I wrote ‘O 
Love that wilt not let me go,” continues Dr. 
Matheson’s letter, “ were these. It was not com- 
posed ; it came as an inspiration, I well remem- 


a. ee 


1 MR. RICHARD BAXTER. 2 SIR JOHN BOWRING, LL.D. 
From an Engraving. From a Drawing. 


3 MR. WILLIAM WILLIAMS. 
Froman Engraving. 


4 THE RIGHT REV. BISHOP RICHARD MANT, D.D. 


Froman Engraving. 


5 THE REV. GEORGE MATHESON, D.D. 
Photo by Horsburgh. 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 297 


ber the occasion. It was at Innellan, on an 
evening in June, 1882. I had suffered a severe 
loss, and was greatly depressed. As I sat there, 
very sad and unhappy, the words flashed into my 
mind, and in a few minutes the four verses of the 
hymn were complete. It seemed as if they had 
been swiftly dictated to me by some invisible 
medium, complete in language and rhythm. It 
has been a constant source of pleasure to me that 
the little hymn has found so large an acceptance. 
Every year I receive many requests from com- 
pilers of hymnals in all parts of the world to be 
allowed to include ‘O Love that wilt not let me 
go’ in their collections, requests which I am only 
too delighted to grant.” 

Dr. Matheson is at present minister of St. Ber- 
nard’s, Edinburgh, a position which he has now 
filled for many years. 

There are many hymns which have associations 
with the Isle of Wight. We have already referred 
to several, and the number is increased by yet 
another, this being Mr. Thomas Binney’s “ Eter- 
nal light! eternal light!” This hymn was written 
at Newport, not a great way from the house in 
which Mrs, Luke now resides. The origin of this 
hymn was told me by one who in his youth was a 
personal friend of Thomas Binney. It appears 


298 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


that the late hymnist, who had a fondness for 
solitude, was one evening sitting at the window of 
his house watching the sun set. He sat there 
long after the light of day had disappeared, until 
the moon rose and the stars began to come forth. 
And then the thought struck him how wonderful 
it seemed that the sky was never free from light, 
it was eternal. After sitting in contemplation for 
some considerable time longer, the lines of the 
hymn began to frame themselves in his brain. 
Rising at last, he shut the window and retired to 
his own room. That night before he closed his 
eyes in sleep the hymn was written. It was pub- 
lished about the year 1820 with special music, 
which, however, did not commend itself very 
highly to the public taste. Thirty-five years later 
it was again set to music by a Mr. Burnett of 
Highgate, whose setting was very much more 
successful. The hymn is a favourite in America, 
though in American hymnals the original text is 
not generally adhered to. The manner in which 
his hymn was occasionally mutilated was some- 
times a source of annoyance to Mr. Binney, who 
often referred rather sarcastically to the manner in 
which compilers unblushingly altered a hymn to 
suit their own particular views. 

Dr. Binney, who for many years was pastor at 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 299 


Newport, was the author of a great number of 
prose works. “Eternal light! eternal light!” is 
the only hymn of his which has gained any 
degree of popularity. 

The late Thomas Toke Lynch was the author 
of a volume of hymns which created one of the 
most remarkable controversies in the history of 
hymnology. This book was entitled The Rivulet, 
and from it have come into common use many 
very beautiful compositions, the most popular, 
perhaps, being the one he wrote on the Holy 
Spirit :— 


Gracious Spirit, dwell with me, 
I myself would gracious be. 


This simple little hymn has been appropriated 
by a great number of editors, and is the one by 
which Mr. Lynch’s name will be longest held in 
remembrance. 

Thomas Lynch was born in 1818 at Dunmow, 
in Essex, being the son of a surgeon. He was 
always delicate, but even as a boy bright and 
manly. Almost before he had reached his teens 
he had composed many hymns and poems, and 
his great ambition was to have a volume of them 
published. In view of this wish being fulfilled one 
day he wrote a dedication, which he addressed 


300 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


to himself. This remarkable document began, 
“Dearest Myself—As you have had some con- 
cern in writing these verses, and are besides my 
oldest and most intimate friend, it is but proper 
that I should dedicate them to you. I wish you 
to take this rather as a token of affection than 
respect. Our near relationship and close inti- 
macy make me still retain some regard for you, 
although you have much injured me and thwarted 
many of my designs,” etc. This curious address, 
over which Mr. Lynch had many a laugh in after 
years, concluded, “I remain, My dearest myself, 
Your affectionate though injured companion, I.” 
Both the poems and the dedication were written 
before he had reached his fifteenth year. 

For several years Mr. Lynch discharged the 
duties of a minister in London, but owing to 
enfeebled health he was obliged to retire. On 
partially recovering his strength in 1860, he took 
a room in Gower Street, where he continued to 
preach every Sunday for a couple of years, when 
he removed to Hampstead and became minister 
of Mornington Church. He died on May 9, 1871, 
at the age of fifty-three. 

A hymn which is generally sung on Trinity Sun- 
day, and which was written especially for that day, 
is Reginald Heber’s magnificent paraphrase :-— 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 301 


tly ey ng al Ht 


ons tin Tes Peer, thifeeks etn! 


This beautiful hymn is very often sung as a 
morning hymn, and is, in fact, a general favourite 
throughout the year. It was not published until 
after Heber’s death, like very many of his hymns, 
but almost immediately after its appearance it be- 
gan to be inserted in all the new collections. It 
was written on the text taken from Revelations :— 
“They rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, 
Holy, Lord God Almighty, Which was, and is, and is 
to come.” I have in my possession a photograph 
of the hymn as it appears in Heber’s collection of 
MSS. at the British Museum. It is headed “ For 
Trinity Sunday,” and is initialled with the letters 
“R. H.” If it is not the most popular of all Heber’s 
hymns—and many assert that it is—there is cer- 
tainly no other of this author’s compositions which 
exceeds it in beauty. It has been translated into 
as many foreign languages as “ From Greenland’s 
icy mountains” and is a favourite subject with 
students for conversion into Latin. 

A word must be said regarding the triumphant 
and martial melody to which it is allied. This 


302 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


composition, known by the name of “ Nicaea,” 
was written by the late Dr. Dykes. Many 
attempts have been made to supplant this melody, 
but without success. Like that to “ Eternal 
Father! strong to save,” it stands alone and 
will live. with the hymn. It is one of the best 
known of Dr. Dykes’ tunes, and was very popular 
in Durham. On one occasion, when Dr. Dykes 
went into a shop in that city to make a pur- 
chase, there happened to be standing behind the 
counter three young assistants. A look of intelli- 
gence passed between them, and the first assistant 
softly uttered the word “ Holy” on E, the second 
followed suit on G sharp and the third finished on 
B. Dr. Dykes looked amused and rather scanda- 
lized but said nothing. The same thing occurred 
on other occasions until the composer quietly asked 
the young men to desist, which they very politely 
did. This little incident was told me by a per- 
sonal friend of the late composer. 

“Now thank we all our God” is Miss Wink- 
worth’s translation of Martin Rinkart’s great 
hymn. It is said to have been written in com- 
memoration of the Peace of Westphalia, but this is 
a story which can hardly be relied upon. Rinkart 
passed through all the horrors of the Thirty Years’ 
War, and he can certainly have seen little during 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 303 


that terrible time calculated to inspire in his breast 
a hymn of such gratitude and praise as “ Now thank 
we all our God.” One writer has suggested that 
he wrote the hymn in anticipation of the Peace 
which he knew must come some day, and this is 
not at all unlikely. At one time he was shut up in 
Eilenburg, where there were gathered together 
many thousands of refugees. Pestilence broke out, 
and they died by hundreds. All the clergymen, 
with the exception of Rinkart, succumbed and 
were buried. He was a man as brave and fearless 
as Martin Luther, and he continued to read the 
burial service over the blackened bodies of the 
famine’s victims until he too fell exhausted. During 
this time he must have written the hymn which 
has survived for two hundred and fifty years. It 
has been sung on many important occasions when 
Peace has been declared, the last time being at St. 
Paul’s Cathedral, when it was voiced by an im- 
mense congregation as a thanksgiving hymn for the 
cessation of hostilities between this country and 
South Africa. A curious coincidence in connexion 
with the singing of the hymn on that occasion was 
the fact that the name of the composer was closely 
allied to that of the man who was at one time Presi- 
dent of the South African Republic. The name of 
the composer was Johann Cruger, and the hymn 


304 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


tune was composed about the year 1649, so that it 
may possibly have been written specially for Rin- 
kart’s composition. It is a fine, impressive setting, 
and suits the hymn admirably. 

Bishop Bickersteth has written a considerable 
number of hymns, to some of which reference has 
already been made, but the one which will keep 
his name longest in the Church’s memory is that 
which he wrote in 1875 :-— 


Prane, fir plat fume, So tart ona Jom “ 


This hymn steadily increases in favour year 
by year, and its growing popularity is in no way 
lessened by the very beautiful melody entitled 
“Pax Tecum,” which was specially written for it 
by Mr. G. T. Coldbeck. 

It has been published in the form of a card, and 
many hundreds of these have been distributed by 
the Bishop among the numerous children he has 
confirmed. The hymn owes its origin, the author 
tells me, to the impression made upon him by a 
sermon preached by Canon Gibbons from the text 
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind 
is stayed on Thee.” Canon Gibbons was a cele- 
brated preacher, and so much was Dr. Bickersteth 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 305 


moved by his discourse that, on reaching home, he 
penned the lines almost spontaneously. They 
came with little effort, and the whole composition 
was completed in a very few minutes. He took 
less time over it than any other of his hymns, and 
yet it has become the best known. It has been 
favourably compared to Newman’s “ Lead, kindly 
Light,” a somewhat curious coincidence when one 
remembers the hot water Dr. Bickersteth got into 
for adding an additional stanza to that favourite 
hymn. Mr. Richard le Gallienne, who is a critic 
as well as a poet, says of “ Peace, perfect peace” : 
— “It would be difficult to name any other hymn 
so filled with the sense of man’s security as this, 
which tranquillizes me at certain moments to a 
remarkable degree.” 

“Q Jesu, Thou art standing” was written by 
the late Bishop of Wakefield in 1867. It is 
one of the most popular of Bishop How’s com- 
positions, and is to be found in a great number of 
hymnals, It has come to be associated with Hol- 
man Hunt’s celebrated picture of Christ knocking 
at the door. Bishop How also wrote the special 
hymn for the late Queen Victoria’s Diamond 
Jubilee, but though it was a fine composition and 
suited its purpose well, it will probably not be in- 
cluded in many hymnals. This, of course, is due to 


F.H. 20 


306 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


the fact that it was written for a unique and pro- 
bably never-to-be-repeated occasion. 

With regard to “O Jesu, Thou art standing,” I 
find among my papers a letter from the author 
enclosing a MS. of his well-known hymn. He 
says :—“ There is very little to be said regarding 
the writing of ‘O Jesu, Thou art standing’; cer- 
tainly nothing worth calling a story. I composed 
the hymn early in 1867, after I had been reading a 
very beautiful poem entitled ‘ Brothers and a Ser- 
mon.’ The pathos of the verses impressed me very 
forcibly at the time. I read them over and over 
again, and finally closing the book I scribbled on 
an odd scrap of paper my first ideas of the verses 
beginning ‘O Jesu, Thou art standing.’ I altered 
them a good deal subsequently, but I am fortunate 
in being able to say that after the hymn left my 
hands it was never revised or altered in any way.” 

“Thy life was given for me,” or, as in some 
collections, “I gave My life for thee,” is one of 
Miss Havergal’s most popular hymns and is an 
especial favourite in America. A few years before 
her death Miss Havergal received a letter from an 
unknown correspondent in Brooklyn asking for 
some information respecting this composition. In 
reply the authoress wrote :—‘ The hymn was the 
first thing I ever wrote which could be called a 


me 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 307 


hymn, and it was composed when I was quite a 
young girl. I did not half realize what I was writ- 
ing about. I scribbled it in pencil on the back of 
a circular, in a few minutes, and then read it over 
and thought, ‘ Well, this is not poetry. I will not 
go to the trouble to copy this.’ And I stretched 
out my hand to put it in the fire: but a sudden 
impulse made me draw back, and I put it, crumpled 
and singed, into my pocket. Soon after I went 
out to see an old woman inanalmshouse. She 
began to talk to me, as she always did, about her 
dear Saviour, and I thought I would see if the 
simple old woman would care for these verses 
which I felt sure nobody else would care to read. 
So I read them to her, and she was so delighted 
with them that, when I went back, I copied them 
out and kept them, and now the hymn is more 
widely known than any. Afterwards my father 
wrote for it the tune ‘ Baca,’ to which it is now 
almost always sung.” 

As a hymnist John Wesley is principally known 
by his translations, and it is to him that we are in- 
debted for having first opened up to us the beauties 
of German hymnody. No finer translations are to 
be found than his versions of Scheffler’s “ Thee will 
I love, my strength, my tower,” and “Lo! God is 
here, let us adore,” 


308 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


In order to catch the thoughts that fly, John 
Wesley invented a system of short long-hand. 
When walking or riding, appropriate lines would 
occur to him, and these were immediately entered 
in a small notebook which was kept ready for the 
purpose. When his destination was reached the 
hymn was carefully gone through, the weak lines 
expunged and the strong ones strengthened. He 
was his own severest critic, and he never dis- 
tributed a hymn amongst his congregation without 
spending an immense amount of thought upon it. 

The most popular of John Wesley’s translations — 
is :— 

Now I have found the ground wherein 
Sure my soul’s anchor may remain. 


Mr. G. J. Stevenson in his notes says: “Some 
one has likened this hymn to the word of God, for 
in it are found no less than thirty-six separate 
passages of Scripture which, in language or spirit, 
correspond with the lines of the hymn.” 

When he had finished the translation John 
Wesley sent a copy of it to a German Moravian 
who was at that time in London, asking him to 
frankly criticise it, and if he thought it might be 
improved to kindly say so. It was returned with 
many expressions of approval and a suggestion 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 309 


that the third stanza should be altered. The 
Moravian enclosed an improved version of this 
verse which Wesley afterwards adopted. The 
“ Father of Methodism” was always willing to 
take sound advice and ever ready to consider 
the opinions of his critics. 

“J heard the voice of Jesus say,” the finest and 
perhaps most loved of all Horatius Bonar’s hymns, 
was written while the author was minister at Kelso. 
A reproduction of the original manuscript from Dr. 
Bonar’s notebook, which I am able to give through 
the courtesy of his son, will be studied with peculiar 
interest by all lovers of the great Scotsman’s com- 
positions. Among hymnal manuscripts it is unique, 
for it gives some insight into the method the author 
adopted when composing his hymns. His son tells 
me that he would take his notebook, and while 
thinking out the lines of his hymn he would be 
busy with his pencil, making little sketches all 
over the margin of the page. It is evident from 
the MS. that Dr. Bonar, like John Wesley, made 
use of a kind of shorthand, though in his case the 
signs employed bear a strong likeness to Pitman’s 
system. The original MS. of “I heard the voice 
of Jesus say” is now very much worn and faded. 
It is written in pencil, and the photographer who 
copied the original tells me that he had to give an 


310 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


exposure of something like three-quarters of an 
hour in order to get even a fairly good result. 

Dr. Bonar’s notebook, which is now one of the 
most precious relics he has left behind, contains, I 
believe, many other hymns, including “I was a 
wandering sheep,” written two or three years 
previous to “I heard the voice of Jesus say,” 
and that very beautiful resignation hymn, “ Thy 
way, not mine, O Lord,” written in 1855. 

The name of Harriet Auber will be remembered 
in connection with a single hymn, though she wrote 
others which are to-day in use at Spurgeon’s 
Tabernacle and elsewhere. ‘“ Our blest Redeemer, 
ere He breathed” was written as a Whitsuntide 
hymn, but has now become so great a favourite 
that in most collections it finds a place among 
those for “ General Use.” 

Apart from the great beauty of “Our blest 
Redeemer, ere He breathed,” the hymn is re- 
markable from the fact that the authoress first 
wrote it on a pane of glass in a window of her 
house at Hoddesdon, where she resided for many 
years. To Mr. C. W. Lock of that town I am in- 
debted for a photograph of this interesting house, 
which shows the window which contained this 
strange manuscript, though the pane has long 


since been removed. 


“ 
i 


i 
t 

ie 
Bo 

# 
fhe, 
* 
: 


Facsimile of ‘‘I heard the voice of Jesus say, * 
From the original MS. 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 311 


Writing from Hoddesdon, Mr. Lock says: “I 
remember the house well in which Miss Auber 
used to live,and where she died in 1862 at the 
patriarchal age of eighty-nine. She was buried 
in the churchyard immediately opposite the house. 
She and a Miss Mackenzie lived together, two 
saintly old ladies who were known and loved for 
many miles round. While Miss Auber wrote 
poetry Miss Mackenzie was the author of a consid- 
erable number of prose works of a religious nature. 

“ A lady resident here, whose relations lived in 
Miss Auber’s house after the decease of the 
hymnist, tells me that when visiting her friends 
she often saw the hymn on a pane of glass in one 
of the bedroom windows at the back of the house, 
but that after her friends left Hoddesdon the pane 
was removed by some person and has never been 
recovered. No trace was ever found of it. This 
lady has put a cross on the window in the photo- 
graph to show which pane of glass the hymn was 
written on.” 

Though there has been a good deal of con- 
troversy as to who was the author of “ All people 
that on earth do dwell,” there can be little doubt 
that it was the work of William Kethe. It first 
appeared in 1560, and since that date few hymnals 
have been published in which it has not founda 


312 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


place. Perhaps the tune to which it is allied, and 
which is generally known as “the Old Hundredth,” 
is almost as famous as the hymn itself. This tune 
originally appeared in the Genevan Psalter, which 
dates back to about the year 1543, and it is not 
therefore at all unlikely that Kethe wrote his 
hymn to the tune. 

A somewhat interesting incident may be men- 
tioned in connection with this composition. As 
sung to-day the second verse runs :— 

The Lord, ye know, is God indeed ; 
Without our aid He did us make; 


We are His flock, He doth us feed, 
And for His sheep He doth us take. 


In the original, however, the word in the third line 
was not “flock ” but “ folk,” spelt in the Old Eng- 
lish “folck.” It is generally supposed that this 
alteration, which occurred not so many years after 
it was first published, was due to a printer’s error, 
the “o” and the “1” being transposed. If this is cor- 
rect it was rather a happy mistake, the connection 
between “flock” and “sheep” being decidedly 
appropriate. Perhaps, after all, the printer thought 
that he could improve on the original, and there is 
little doubt that he did so. It may be mentioned 
that Prebendary Thring in his collection has 
reverted to the original “folk.” The exact date 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 313 


of William Kethe’s death is not known; in all 
probability it occurred towards the closing years 
of the sixteenth century. 

A hymn which is said to be a favourite with 
King Edward VII. is :— 


which was written by Sarah Flower and first 
published in 1841. The authoress was the 
daughter of a couple who first became acquainted 
in Newgate gaol. It was no great offence for 
which Benjamin Flower was imprisoned, being 
nothing more heinous than a spirited defence 
of the French Revolution. While in gaol he was 
visited by a Miss Eliza Gould, and the friendship 
thus formed ripened into love, and when his term 
of imprisonment was over they were married. 
Two children were born, Eliza and Sarah, both 
of whom were singularly gifted. Sarah was a 
poetess of great sweetness and power, while 
Elizabeth developed a wonderful talent for musical 
composition, setting nearly all her sister’s poems 
and hymns to music. 

Some time ago I had an interesting corre- 


314 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


spondence with Mrs. Bridell Fox, a near relative 
of the late Mrs. Sarah Adams (née Flower), in 
which she gives an attractive word portrait of the 
authoress of “Nearer, my God, to Thee.” She 
says: “Sarah was tall and singularly beautiful, 
with noble and regular features; in manner she 
was gay and impulsive, her conversation full of 
sparkling wit and kindly humour.” 

“How she composed her hymns,” Mrs, Fox says 
in another letter, “can hardly be stated. She cer- 
tainly never had any idea of composing them. 
They were the spontaneous expression of some 
strong impulse or feeling at the moment ; she was 
essentially a creature of impulse. Her translations 
would be, of course, to a certain extent, an excep- 
tion ; also, perhaps, when she was writing words 
for music already in use at South Place Chapel. 
Otherwise she wrote when she felt that the spirit 
moved her.” 

Some years ago Mrs. Fox collected Miss 
Flower’s sacred and secular music, and this has 
since been lodged in the British Museum together 
with Mrs. Adams’ religious drama Vivia Perpetua. 
Included in the former is an exquisite setting of 
“ Nearer, my God, to Thee.” It is not easy, how- 
ever, and requires several good soprano voices to 
make it effective, 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 315 


Both sisters died at comparatively early ages 
and within two years of each other—Eliza in 
December, 1846, and Sarah on August 11, 1848. 
At the funerals of both, the hymns and music sung 
were the compositions of the two gifted sisters. 

Rather a remarkable story is told in connection 
with this hymn. When Mr. McKinley was almost 
im extremis he derived great comfort from the 
hymn “Nearer, my God, to Thee,” and various 
accounts of the composition appeared in the 
London papers. One correspondent told a story 
which was related to him by the Rev. Dr. Moulton, 
who was for over thirty years a missionary in the 
Tongan Islands. “On one of his periodical visits 
to the smaller islands,’ wrote the anonymous 
correspondent, “he landed at one rarely even 
visited by missionaries, and there heard that an 
old Tongan, who had some years before been con- 
verted to Christianity, was dying. The doctor 
hastened to the hut of the sufferer, and there a 
curious sight met his view. The old man had 
been propped up by his friends so that he clung 
by his two arms to a beam stretching across the 
room ; there he half hung with closed eyes anda 
face drawn with agony constantly murmuring 
some words. The doctor drew silently near to 
him, thinking that the dying man was making 


316 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


some last request. ‘Judge of my astonishment, 
he said in relating the incident, ‘when I heard 
these words uttered over and over again—in 
Tongan of course—“ Nearer, O God, to Thee! 
Nearer to Thee,”’ In those days—almost forty 
years ago—the hymn of the cultured, saintly 
Englishwoman had not reached the Tongan 
natives, but the same spirit that inspired the 
thought in her doubtless inspired it in the heart 
of the poor, untutored Christian Tongan.” 

In the Olney Hymn Book there is no more 
beautiful composition than John Newton’s “ How 
sweet the name of Jesus sounds.” It was written 
when the author had passed his fiftieth year. It is 
probably the best known of all Newton’s hymns 
with the exception of his “Glorious things of 
Thee are spoken.” 

Newton was the son of a sailor and spent many 
years at sea, where, on his own confession, he spent 
the life of a reckless and profligate sailor. He was 
at one time in the service of an African slave- 
dealer, and for some years commanded a slave 
ship. There was no kind of wickedness which he 
did not commit or boast of having committed. 
But when he reached his thirtieth year he came 
under the influence of the Nonconformists, and 
forsaking his seafaring life he gave himself up to 


ag eae 


I THE REV. W. BULLOCK, D.D. 
Photo by Notman, Nova Scotia. 


2 THE REV. W. ST. HILL BOURNE. 3 MR. WILLIAM WHITING. 
Photo by H. Edmonds, Hull. From a Photo. 
4 MR. W. CHATTERTON DIX. 5 THE REV. HENRY FRANCIS LYTE, M.A. 
Photoby Lindon Hatt, Clifton. Froman Engraving. 


6 THE REV. HENRY ALFORD, D.D. 
Photo by Maull & Co. 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 317 


preaching and became curate of Olney, where 
most of his hymns were written. He has pub- 
lished his own life, wherein he gives a faithful and 
frank account of himself, dwelling with consider- 
able emphasis on those years of wickedness which 
preceded his conversion. He lived to the good 
old age of eighty-two and continued preaching 
almost to the last. The following little story is 
related regarding the hymnist which is not without 
interest :— 

“When he had passed his fourscore years he 
continued to preach. As it was with difficulty 
that he could see to read his manuscript he took 
a servant with him into the pulpit, who stood 
behind him and with a wooden pointer would 
trace out the lines. One Sunday morning New- 
ton came to the words in his sermon, ‘ Jesus 
Christ is precious,’ and wishing to emphasize 
them he repeated : ‘Jesus Christ is precious.” His 
servant thinking he was getting confused whispered, 
‘Go on, go on, you said that before’ ; when Newton 
looking round replied, ‘John, I said that twice, and 
I am going to say it again’ ; then with redoubled 
force he sounded out the words, ‘ JESUS CHRIST 
IS PRECIOUS.” 

To the late Rev. William Bullock, D.D., Dean 
of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Church is indebted 


318 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


for “ We love the place, O God,” one of the best 
known of modern hymns. It has been my privi- 
lege to see the composition in the original, and it 
is remarkable to note the amount of alteration it 
has undergone at the hands of compilers. The 
last two verses as written by Dean Bullock have 
appeared in few hymnals, and as they may be 
new to many of my readers their reproduction 
here may not be without interest :— 


We love Thy saints who come 
Thy mercy to proclaim, 

To call the wanderers home, 
And magnify Thy name. 


Our first and latest love 

To Zion shall be given— 
The house of God above, 

On earth the gate of heaven. 


With regard to this hymn Mr. R. H. Bullock, 
the Dean’s son, who still lives in Halifax, says: 
“We have a strong impression that the hymn was 
composed in 1827 for the consecration of the 
church in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, of which 
he was the Rector. Two or three years ago this 
hymn was sung at the consecration of a new 
church erected on the same site, when the sermon 
which was preached there in 1827 was preached 
again from the original manuscript. My father 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 319 


more often than not read his sermons, and we 
have therefore been able to preserve very many 
of them. 

“All through his life my father cultivated 
poetry, and I note in his journal (which we still 
possess) the account of a voyage round the island 
of Newfoundland, with the Governor, in his yacht 
in 1828, when several pieces of domestic and re- 
ligious poetry were composed at sea. My father 
was passionately fond of the water, and was never 
so happy as when at the helm running before a 
stiff breeze.” 

Dean Bullock was born at Prettiwell, Apex, and 
after receiving his education at the “Blue Coat 
School ” passed into the Royal Navy, where he 
remained for some years and attained the rank 
of lieutenant. He was employed with his brother, 
the late Admiral Frederick Bullock, in surveying 
the coast of Newfoundland, and it was while thus 
engaged that he resolved to take Holy Orders 
and become a missionary in that colony. 

Should you ever visit Trinity Bay you will find 
that the name and memory of the late Dean (he 
died in 1874) are both held dear, and that his 
influence is still widely felt. This little settlement 
has furnished no less than five ministers of the 
Gospel, and with expressions of gratitude and 


320 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


affection the settlers will tell you to whose in- 
fluence this is due. 

It has been said of the hymns by the late 
Dr. J. S. B. Monsell that few of them, if any, 
will celebrate their second century. This is per- 
haps too severe a judgment, for a couple at least 
will live—* O worship the Lord in the beauty of 
holiness,” and “Fight the good fight with all thy 
might.” Either of these hymns is worthy the pen 
of any hymnist. The latter came prominently 
before the public during the years of the South 
African war, and was heartily sung by congrega- 
tions of all denominations. In America, too, it is 
a great favourite, and played a prominent part 
in religious services during the war between that 
country and the Philippines. It has been set to 
music several times by different composers, the 
most popular tunes being “St. Crispin,” by 
Sir G. J. Elvey, and “ Pentecost,” by William 
Boyd. 

“O worship the Lord in the beauty of holi- 
ness” is perhaps Monsell’s best known hymn. It 
was written about the year 1860, after the author 
had passed his fiftieth year, so that it was not, as 
I have seen it stated, one of Dr. Monsell’s earliest 
compositions. After its publication Dr. Monsell 
wrote a second version, but it is the origina which 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 321 


is usually found in our hymnals. In many cases, 
however, the hymn begins, “ Worship the Lord in 
the beauty of holiness,” the interjection being 
omitted. This hymn was very successfully set to 
music by Sir Henry Smart, his tune, “ Meredun,” 
being the one to which it is generally now 
sung. 

John Samuel Bewley Monsell was born in 
Londonderry in 1811. In 1834 he took orders, 
and subsequently became Vicar of Egham and 
afterwards of Guildford in Surrey. He published 
several volumes of poems and hymns, as well as 
some prose works. His death was due to an 
accident. His church at Guildford was under- 
going repairs, and Dr. Monsell, who took con- 
siderable interest in the renovation, used often to 
watch the men at work. One day he stood in the 
aisle, and was looking up at some alterations 
which were being made in the roof when a large 
piece of masonry fell. To the consternation of 
the workmen, the stone struck Dr. Monsell on 
the head, felling him to the ground, where he lay 
unconscious. He was tenderly carried to the 
rectory, where everything was done to save his 
life, but without success. He died on April 9, 
1875, at the age of sixty-four. 

Nearlv all the hymnal manuscripts of the late 

F.H. 21 


322 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


hymnist are in the possession of his son, Colonel 
Monsell, who resides in London. 

Between the two hymns, “Come unto Me, ye 
weary” and “I heard the voice of Jesus say,” 
there is a good deal of similarity. Both are what 
one might call Invitation hymns; both are written 
in verses of eight lines each; and though the 
metre is not the same, the difference is so slight 
as almost to be unnoticeable ; while the author of 
the remarkably beautiful tunes to both, known as 
“Come unto Me” and “ Vox Dilecti,” is the same, 
namely John Bacchus Dykes. Curiously enough, 
too, in many hymnals they follow each other. 
There was, however, a difference of over twenty 
years between the time of their composition, 
“Come unto Me, ye weary” not having been 
written until 1867, while, as already mentioned, 
“JT heard the voice of Jesus say” was written in 
1845. 

Not a great while before his death Mr. Chat- 
terton Dix sent me a manuscript copy of his 
hymn :— 


rire wns Me reeceeny ae 
ones Feira, gong ie 


Cl rine Jeno, 
a QrhncA Cormes og wy oe 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 323 


together with a few remarks as to the circum- 
stances under which he composed it. “I was ill 
and depressed at the time,’ he says, “and it 
was almost to idle away the hours that I wrote 
the hymn. I had been ill for many weeks, and 
felt weary and faint, and the hymn really ex- 
presses the languidness of body from which I was 
suffering at the time. Soon after its composition— 
and it took me some time to write out, for my 
hand trembled, and I could with difficulty hold 
the pen—I recovered, and I always look back to 
that hymn as the turning-point in my illness. It 
is a somewhat curious fact that most of my best 
known hymns were written when I was suffering 
from some bodily ailment. Dr. Dykes’ setting I 
consider one of the most beautiful in the hymnal.” 
Like the late Cardinal Newman, Mr. Dix was 
almost tempted to say that it had much to do 
with the success of the hymn. “Come unto Me, 
ye weary” was suggested to the author by the 
words, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Mr. Dix 
died at Clifton in 1898 at the age of sixty. 
Considering the very large number of hymns 
which were written by the late Sir John Bowring 
it is rather remarkable that so few should have 
found their way into collections used by the 


324 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


Church of England. One, however, which appears 
to be sung by all denominations is that very 
fine hymn beginning “In the Cross of Christ I 
glory.” This was one of Sir John Bowring’s 
earliest hymns, being written when he was be- 
tween twenty and thirty years of age. It is 
popular in all countries where the English tongue 
is spoken and has been translated into several 
languages. 

To Charles II’s chaplain, Richard Baxter, we 
owe one of the most beautiful resignation hymns 
ever penned. “Lord, it belongs not to my care” 
must have been composed when the author was 
quite an old man, and was not published until 
shortly before his death. It is said to have 
been a great favourite with his wife and was sung 
by her during her last illness. Richard Baxter 
wrote many other hymns not one of which, however, 
has so staunchly stood the test of time as “ Lord, 
it belongs not to my care.” It was Baxter, it will 
be remembered, who, when greeted by the terrible 
Judge Jeffreys with the remark, “Richard, I see 
the rogue in thy face,” replied “I had not known 
before that my face was a mirror.” Baxter died 
in 1691 at the age of seventy-six. 

A hymn which, though originally written for 
Trinity Sunday, has become a general favourite 


SOME GENERAL HYMNS 325 


for any season of the year is Bishop Mant’s 
“Bright the vision that delighted,’ sometimes 
commencing “Round the Lord in glory seated,” 
as in Thring’s collection. It was written in the 
early thirties and published in the author’s 
Ancient Hymns. From thence it passed into 
numerous collections and ultimately took its place 
as the most popular of all this writer’s hymns. 
Bishop Mant died in 1848. 

The number of hymns which have come to us 
from the Welsh is not great, but among them is 
one which I cannot refrain mentioning before 
bringing this little volume to a close. It is 
William Williams’ “Guide me, O Thou great 
Jehovah.” The hymn was first published in the 
original Welsh in 1745, but it was not until some 
twenty-five years later that the first English 
translation appeared. This translation, which is 
partially the one now in general use, was made 
by Peter Williams, a clergyman of Carmarthen. 
Whether any relationship existed between author 
and translator I do not know, but as Williams is 
by no means an uncommon name in the Princi- 
pality it is not improbable that the similarity in 
names is merely a coincidence. After Peter 
Williams’ version had appeared, the author of 
the original, not being altogether satisfied with it, 


326 SOME GENERAL HYMNS 


determined to make a translation of his own. 
This he did so successfully that in nearly all 
modern hymnals the last two verses are generally 
those taken from his own translation. 

William Williams was born near Llandovery in 
1717, and after ordination became curate in vari- 
ous Welsh parishes. He was a fine preacher, and 
had a large following. His hymns, most of which 
were written at odd moments, were collected and 
published in book form. They became immensely 
popular in Wales, and are to-day sung in the 
original tongue in many of the villages and towns. 
The only composition, however, which may be 
said to be universally known in England is 
“Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah.” For this 
hymn Sir George Elvey wrote the very fine 
melody “ Pilgrimage,” to which it is usually sung. 
Mr. Williams died in 1791 at the age of seventy- 


four. 


<< 


Index of Authors’ Names 


Adams (zée Flower), Sarah, 
313 

Alderson, Eliza Sibbald, 90 

Alexander, Cecil Frances, 280 

Alford, Henry, 141, 241 

Allen, James, 107 

Ambrose, St., 1, 30, 37, 49 

Anatolius, St., 22, 220 

Armes, Dr. Philip, 208 

Auber, Harriet, 43, 310 


Bach, J. Sebastian, 135 

Baker, Sir Henry, 7, 17, 19, 
28, 34, 70, 109, I10, 159, 
169, 173, 178, 197, 251 

Baring-Gould, S., 145, 147, 
287 

Barnby, Sir Joseph, 129, 195, 
234 

Baxter, Richard, 324 

Benedictus, Jacobus de, 104 

Bennett, G. J., 225 

Bernard of Morlaix, 293 

Bickersteth, Bishop, 20, 25, 
227, 304 

Biggs, L. C., 26 

Binney, Thomas, 267, 297 

Bliss, Mrs. Worthington, 


142, 233 


Blunt, A. Gerald, 245 

Bode, J. E., 185 

Bonar, Horatius, 80, 121, 309 
Bourne, W. St. Hill, 240, 290 
Bowring, Sir John, 323 
Boyd, William, 320 

Brady, Nicholas, 64 

Bridge, Sir Frederick, 241 
Bridges, Matthew, 129 
Bright, William, 33, 169 
Bullock, William, 317 
Byrom, John, 58 


Campbell, Jane M., 244 
Campbell, Robert, 134 
Cassander, Georgius, 38 
Caswall, Edward, 26, 49, 82, 
104, 106, 176 
Celano, Thomas of, 40 
Cennick, John, 50 
Chandler, John, 37, 279 
Clark, Jeremiah, 139 
Claudius, Matthias, 243 
Clephane, Elizabeth C., 218 
Coldbeck, G. T., 304 
Coles, V. S.S., 164 
Collins, Henry, 176 
Collyer, William B., 46 
Conder, Josiah, 166 


328 


Cotterill, Thomas, 46 
Cowper, William, 94, 180 
Cox, Frances E., 124, 247 
Coxe, Arthur C., 211 
Crosby, Fanny, 289 
Crossby, John, 60 
Cruger, Johann, 303 


Daniell, J. J., 291 

Dix, William Chatterton, 63, 
140, 244, 322 

Doane, W. H., 257, 289 

Doddridge, Phillip, 44, 162, 
187 

Doudney, Sarah, 232 

Downton, Henry, 204, 244 

Dykes, Dr. J. B., 8, 19, 25, 
55, 83, 88, 90, 105, 148, 
166, 178, %82, 195, 226, 
249, 251, 265, 302, 322 


Edmeston, James, 20 

Ellerton, John, 15, 17, 109, 
179, 195, 198, 205, 231, 248 

Elliott, Charlotte, 215, 239 

Elvey, Sir G. J., 243, 320, 
326 

Ewing, Alexander, 253, 294 


Faber, Father, 9, 177 

Farmer, John, 75 

Farrar, Frederick W., 74, 
286 

Ferrars, Earl, 107 

Fortunatus, Venantius, 143 

Foster, Myles, 210 

Fuller - Maitland, Frances, 
183 


INDEX OF AUTHORS’ NAMES 


Fuller-Maitland, Mrs., 183 


Gadsby, Henry, 142 
Gauntlet, Dr., 145, 196 
Gellert, C. F., 124 
Gladstone, W. E., 181 
Gounod, Charles, 281 
Gurney, Archer T., 122, 284 
Gurney (mée Blomfield), 
Dorothy, 124, 193 
Gurney, John Hampden, 283 ~ 


Hamerton, Samuel C., 73 

Hampton, John, 144 

Handel, George Frederick, 
131 

Hankey, Katherine, 219, 256 

Harris, F. W., 116 

Havergal, Frances Ridley, 
46, 84, 273, 306 

Haydn, Joseph, 105 

Hayne, L. G., 81 

Heathcote, Sir William, 6 

Heber, Reginald, 70, 111, 
200, 229, 252, 300 

Hensley, Lewis, 48 

Hodges, George S., 265 

Hopkins, E. J., 279 

How, Bishop W. W., 275, 
305 

Hulton, Everard, 232 

Huntingdon, Lady, 108 

Hyne, L. G., 49 


Ingemann, B. S., 149 
Innocent III, Pope, 104 
Irons, Joseph, 43 


INDEX OF AUTHORS’ NAMES 


Irons, Wm. Josiah, 43, 176 


Jenner, H. L., 294 

John, St., of Damascus, 125, 
136 

Joseph, St., of the Studium, 
154 


Keble, John, 4, 150, 195 
Kelly, Thomas, 57, 113, 114, 
Ken, Bishop, 1, 22, 38 [139 
Kethe, William, 311 

King, Joseph, 46 

Knecht, J. H., 154 

Kocher, Conrad, 64 


Lowry, Robert, 269 

Lynch, Thomas Toke, 299 

Lyte, Henry Francis, 11, 
212, 238 

Luke (zée Thompson), Jemi- 
ma, 260 

Lundie, R. H., 81 

Luther, Martin, 46, 68 


Maclagan, Archbishop, 115, 
169, 250 

Madan, Martin, 50, 52 

Mant, Bishop Richard, 325 

Marriott, John, 209 

Mason, Lowell, 100 

Matheson, George, 296 

Maude, Mary F., 170 

Maurice, P., 246 

Mercer, William, 67 

Midlane, Albert, 267 

Miller, E., 164 


Seo 


Miller, Emily Huntington, 
277 

Milman, Arthur, 112 

Milman, Dean H. H., 71, 
110, 237 

Monk, W. H., 16, 47, 109, 
160, 180, 251 

Monsell, John S. B., 320 

Montgomery, James, 8, 72, 
174, 209 

Moultrie, Gerald, 150, 231 


Neale, John Mason, 22, 27, 
30; 70, 121, 125, 129, 133, 
136, 143, 149, 154, 176, 
220, 293 

Newman, John Henry, 23, 
49, 87, 89 

Newton, John, 316 


Oakeley, Frederick, 65 
Oakeley, Sir Herbert, 6 
Ouseley, Sir F. A. G., 109 


Palestrina, 105, 122 

Palmer, Ray, 99, 174 

Peace; A:-E4\2 

Perronet, Edward, 132 
Plumtre, Dean E. H., 159 
Pollock, Thomas B., 117 
Pott, Francis, 85, 121 

Potter, Thomas J., 155 
Prudentius, 69. 

Prynne, George Rundle, 270 


Redhead, Richard, 237 
Ringwaldt, Bartholomaus, 45 


33° INDEX OF AUTHORS’ NAMES F 


Rinkart, Martin, 302 
Ritter, Paul, 7 
Rossini, 105 


Sankey, Ira D., 219, 233, 
256, 290 

Schaff, Phillip, 138 

Scheffier, Johann, 307 

Schenk, H. T., 247 

Schulz, J. A. P., 244 

Scott, Sir Walter, 40 

Sears, Edmund Hamilton, 
68 

Sedding, Edmund, 294 

Selbourne, Lord, 63 

Shirley, Walter, 107 

Shrubsole, William, 132 

Smart, Sir Henry, 134, 143, 
321 

Stainer, Sir John, 241, 251 

Stanley, Arthur Penrhyn, 
138, 286 

Stone, Samuel John, 151, 
187, 202 

Sullivan, Sir Arthur, 124, 
128, 145, 234, 245 

Summers, T. O., 266 


Tate, Nahum, 64 
Temple, Dr., 151 
Tennyson, Lord, 188, 238 
Threlfall, Jeannette, 284 


Thring, Godfrey, 21, 30, 35, 
46, 116, 130, 157, 199, 226, 
oo 

Toplady, Augustus Montagu, 
g2 

Tuttiett, Lawrence, 54, 79 

Twells, Henry, 27, 35 


Wainwright, John, 60 
Warner, Anna B., 263 
Watts, Isaac, 77, 100, 189, 
205, 210, 294 
Weisse, Michael, 127 
Wesley, Charles, 8, 50, 56, 
57, 83, 101, 120, 130, 156, 
I9I, 251, 255 
Wesley, John, 51, 57, 84, 307 
Wesley, Samuel, 57 
White, Henry Kirke, 182 
Whitefield, George, 51 
Whiting, William, 223 
Williams, Isaac, 176 
Williams, William, 325 
Winkworth, Catherine, 68, 
127, 247, 302 
Wordsworth, Bishop Chnisto- 
pher, 31, 128, 248, 284 


Xavier, Francis, 106 


Young, Andrew, 259 


Index of First Lines of Hymns 


A few more years shall roll, 
80 

Abide with me, II, 14, 17 

Above the clear blue sky, 
279 

According to Thy gracious 
word, 174 

Adeste Fideles, 65 

All hail the power of Jesus’ 
Name, 131 

All people that on earth do 
dwell, 311 

All praise to Thee, my God, 
this night, 1 

All things bright and beauti- 
ful, 282 

Alleluia, alleluia, Hearts to 
heaven and voices raise, 
128 

Alleluia ! Sing to Jesus, 139 

Almighty Father, hear our 
cry, 227 

And now, belovéd, Lord, Thy 
Soul resigning, 90 

And now, O Father, mindful 
of the love, 169 

And now the wants are told, 


34 


331 


Angel voices ever singing, 
122 

Angels from the realms of 
glory, 72 

As pants the hart for cool- 
ing streams, 65 

As with gladness men of old, 
63 [28 

At even ere the sun was set, 

At the Cross her station 
keeping, 104, 110 

At the Lamb’s high feast we 
sing, 135 

Awake, my soul, and with 
the sun, 1, 38 


Be present at our table, 
Lord, 52 

Behold the glories of the 
Lamb, 78 

Bound upon the accurséd 
ireesrEy 

Brief life is here our portion, 
196, 293 

Bright the vision that de- 
lighted, 325 

Brightest and best of the 
sons of the morning, 70 


332 


Brightly gleams our banner, 
155 

Brother, thou art gone before 
us, 234 


Calm on the listening ear of 
night, 68 

Christ is risen! 
risen! 122, 284 

Christ the Lord is risen 
again, 127 

Christ, who once amongst us, 
241, 290 

Christ, Whose glory fills the 
skies, 8 

Christians, awake, salute the 
happy morn, 58 

Come, praise your Lord and 
Saviour, 275 

Come, sing with holy glad- 
ness, 291 

Come unto Me, ye weary, 
140, 244, 322 

Come, ye faithful, raise the 
strain, 125 

Come, ye thankful people, 
come, 241 

Crown Him 
crowns, 129 


Christ is 


with many 


Day by day the little daisy, 
283 

Day of wrath, O day of 
mourning, 42 

Days and moments quick- 
ly flying, 81 

Dies lrae, 40 


INDEX OF FIRST LINES OF HYMNS 


Eternal Father, strong to 
save, 223 

Eternal Light, Eternal Light, 
267, 297 


Fair waved the golden corn, 
284 

Far off our brethren’s cry, 
204 

Father, before Thy throne of 
light, 75 

Father, let me dedicate, 79 

Father, while the shadows 
fall, 278 

Fierce raged the tempest on 
the deep, 226 

Fierce was the wild billow, 
220 

Fight the good fight with all 
thy might, 320 

Flow fast, my tears, the 
cause is great, 108 

For thee, Oh dear, dear 
country, 293 

Forth in Thy name, O Lord, 
I go, IOI 

Forward ! be our watchword, 
I4I, 241 

From Greenland’s icy moun- 
tains, 200 

From heaven above to earth 
I come, 68 


Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, 
255 

Give us the wings of faith to 
rise, 210 


INDEX OF FIRST LINES OF HYMNS 


Glorious things of Thee are 
spoken, 316 

Go to dark Gethsemane, 
109 

God moves in a mysterious 
way, 98 

God of mercy, God of Grace, 
212 

God of the living, in whose 
eyes, 231 

God the Father, great and 


holy, 75 

Golden harps are sounding, 
274 

Gracious Spirit, dwell with 
me, 299 

Great God, what do I see 
and hear? 45 

Guide me, O Thou great 
Jehovah, 325 


Hail the day that sees Him 
rise, 156 

Hark! a joyful 
thrilling, 49 

Hark! a thrilling voice is 
sounding, 49 

Hark! in the presence of 
our God, 269 

Hark! my soul, it is the 
Lord, 180 

Hark, the glad sound, the 
Saviour comes, 44 

Hark! the herald angels 
sing, 56, 58, 131 

Hark! the sound of holy 
voices, 247 


voice is 


333 


He is gone—beyond the 
skies, 138 

Here, Lord, we offer Thee all 
that is fairest, 245 

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God 
Almighty, 71, 301 

Hosanna! loud 
284, 292 

Hosanna, we sing like the 
children dear, 264 

How sweet the Name of Jesus 
sounds, 316 

How welcome was the call, 
197 

Hues of the rich unfolding 
morn, 4 


hosanna, 


Ll 


heard the Voice of Jesus 

say, 309, 322 

I love to hear the story, 277 

I think when I read that 
sweet story of old, 260 

I was a wandering sheep, 
310 

Pll praise my Maker while 
I’ve breath, 295 

In the Cross of Christ I 
glory, 324 

In the field with their flocks 
abiding, 74 

In the name of our Salvation, 
149 

It came upon the midnight 
clear, 68 

It is a thing most wonderful, 
276 

“Tt is finished !” 116 


334 INDEX OF FIRST LINES OF HYMNS 


Jerusalem the Golden, 253, 
293 

Jesu, Lover of my soul, 58, 92, 
131, I9I 

Jesu, meek and gentle, 271 

Jesu, meek and lowly, 177 

Jesu, my Lord, my God, my 
all, 176 

Jesus, blesséd Saviour, 84 

Jesus Christ is risen to-day, 
119 

Jesus lives! no longer now, 
124, 225 

Jesus loves me, this I know, 
263 

Jesus shall reign where’er the 
sun, 205 

Just as I am, without one 
plea, 215, 239 


King of Saints, to whom the 
number, 205 


Lead, kindly light, 23, 88 

Lead us, Heavenly Father, 
lead us, 22 

Lift up your heads, eternal 
gates, 122 

Lift up your heads, ye gates 
of brass, 209 

Light’s abode, celestial Sa- 
lem, 133 

Lo! God is here, 
adore, 307 

Lo! He comes with clouds 
descending, 45, 50, 54, 132 

Lo, to us a child is born, 286 


let us 


Lord! her watch Thy Church 
is keeping, 204 

Lord, it belongs not to my 
care, 324 

Lord of Glory, who has 
bought us, 91 

Lord of the harvest, it is 
right and meet, 204 


March, march onward, sol- 
diers true, 160 

My faith looks up to Thee, 98, 
174 

My God and Father! while 
I stray, 239 

My God, and is Thy Table 
spread, 162 

My God, I love Thee, not 
because, 106 

My spirit longeth for Thee, 
62 


Nearer, my God, to Thee, 313 

New every morning is the 
love, 4 

Not all the blood of beasts, 
100 

Now I have found the ground 
wherein, 308 

Now, my tongue, the mys- 
tery telling, 176 

Now thank we all our God, 
302 

Now that the daylight fills 
the skies, 30 

Now the day is over, 288 

Now the labourer’s task is 
o'er, 230 


INDEX OF FIRST LINES OF HYMNS 


O Bread to Pilgrims given, 
174 

O come, all ye faithful, 65, 67 

O Deus ego amo Te, 106 

O Father, all-creating, 198 

O food that weary pilgrims 
love, 173 

O God, our help in ages 
past, 77; 79, 294 

O God, whose all-creating 
might, 168 

O happy band of pilgrims, 
154 

O happy day that fixed my 
choice, 187 

O Jesu, I have promised, 
185 

O Jesu, Lord of Heavenly 
grace, 37 

O Jesu, Thou art standing, 
305 

O little child, lie still and 
sleep, 264 

O Love that wilt not let me 
go, 296 

O perfect Love, all human 
thought transcending, 124, 
193, 

O praise the Lord our God, 
161 

O quickly come, dread Judge 
of all, 54 

O Strength and Stay, 194 

O Thou before whose Pres- 
ence, 187 

O timely happy, 
wise, 4 


timely 


335 

O worship the Lord in the 
beauty of holiness, 320 

Ofthe Father’s love begotten, 
69 

Oft in sorrow, oft in woe, 
182 

Oh, what the joy, 225 

Once in royal David’s city, 
282 

Once, only once, and once 
for all, 169 

Onward, Christian soldiers, 
144 

Our blest Redeemer, ere He 
breathed, 43, 310 


Pange, lingua gloriosi Cor- 
poris mysterium, 176 

Peace, perfect peace, in this 
dark world of sin, 304 

Pleasant are Thy courts 
above, 213 

Praise to the Holiest in the 
height, 87 


Rejoice, the Lord is King, 
130 

Rejoice, ye pure in heart, 159 

Rock of ages, cleft for me, 
89, 91, 237 

Round the Lord in glory 
seated, 325 


Safe in the armsof Jesus, 289 
Saviour, again to Thy dear 
Name we raise, 17, 109 
Saviour, blesséd Saviour, 157 


336 

Saviour, breathe an evening 
blessing, 20 

Saviour, sprinkle many 


nations, 211 

Shall we gather at the river? 
269 

Sleep on, belovéd, 232 

Sol praeceps rapitur, proxima 
nox adest, 26 

Son of God, Eternal Word, 
31 

Splendor paternae gloriae, 37 

Stabat Mater Dolorosa, 103 

Sun of my soul, 4, 6, 17 

Sunset and evening star, 238 

Sweet Saviour, bless us ere 
we g0, 9 

Sweet the moments, rich in 
blessing, 107 


Tell me the old, old story, 
219, 256 

Ten thousand 
thousand, 249 

That day of wrath, that 
dreadful day, 41 

The Church’s one Founda- 
tion, 151 

The day is gently sinking to 
a close, 31 

The day is past and over, 22 

The Day of Resurrection, 136 

The daylight fades, 266 

The foe behind, the deep 
before, 129 

The Head that once was 
crowned with thorns, 139 


times ten 


INDEX OF FIRST LINES OF HYMNS 


The King of Love my Shep- 
herd is, 178 

The morning bright, 266 

The radiant morn hath 
pass’d away, 35 

The Royal Banners forward 
80, 143 

The saints of God! 
conflicts past, 250 

The Son of God goes forth 
to war, 252 

The Sower went forth sow- 
ing, 241 

The strife is o’er, the battle 
done, 121 

The sun is sinking fast, 26 

The Voice that breathed 
o’er Eden, 195 

The world is very evil, 293 

The year is gone beyond 
recall, 85 

Thee will I love, my 
Strength, my Tower, 307 

There is a fountain filled 
with blood, 94 

There’s a Friend for little 
children, 267 

There is a green hill far 
away, 280 

There is a happy land, far, 
far away, 259 

There is a land of pure de- 
light, 102 

There were ninety and nine 
that safely lay, 218 

Thine for ever ! God of love, 
156, 170 


their 


INDEX OF FIRST LINES OF HYMNS 337 


Thou art coming, O my 
Saviour, 46 

Thou hidden love of God, 
251 

Thou Judge of quick and 
dead, 83 

Thou, Whose 
Word, 208 

Through all the changing 
scenes of life, 65 

Through midnight gloom 
from Macedon, 203 

Through the night of doubt 
and sorrow, 147 

Thy kingdom come, O God, 
48 

Thy life was given for me, 
306 

Thy way, not mine, O Lord, 
310 

*Tis gone, that bright and 
orbéd blaze, 5 

To Thee, O Lord, our hearts 
we raise, 244 


Almighty 


Vox clara ecce intonat, 49 


Waken, Christian children, 


73 
We are but little children 


weak, 284 


We are soldiers of Christ, 
Who is mighty to save, 117 

We have not known Thee 
as we ought, 117 

We love the place, O God, 
318 

We plough the fields and 
scatter, 243 

We pray Thee, Heavenly 
Father, 164 

We sing the praise of Him 
Who died, 114 

We thank Thee, Lord, for 
this our food, 52 

When I survey the wondrous 
Cross, 77, 164, 189 

When our heads are bow’d 
with woe, 237 

When through the torn sail 
the wild tempest is stream- 
ing, 229 

While shepherds watched 
their flocks by night, 64, 
210 

Who are these like stars ap- 
pearing ? 246 


Ye faithful, approach ye, 66 
Ye servants of the Lord, 


44 


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